European Union Council President Donald Tusk says Brexit negotiations will not move to the next stage focused on trade relations before December at the earliest not later this month, as Britain was hoping.
Tusk bemoaned today the slow pace of negotiations on the divorce proceedings with London and said it was still far too early to move to the next phase of planning a new trade relationship because the initial breakup talks have yet to reach "sufficient progress."
"We are negotiating in good faith, and we still hope that the so-called 'sufficient progress' will be possible by December," Tusk said. He added that "if it turns out that the talks continue at a slow pace, then together with our UK friends we will have to think about where we are heading." He did not elaborate.
Negotiators are holding a fifth round of talks on divorce proceedings, centered on the rights of citizens in each other's nations once the breakup is complete, the border between Ireland and the UK and the financial commitments Britain will have to pay.
As a compromise on those issues remains elusive, both sides have lobbed the proverbial ball in each other's court to take the initiative. Yesterday, British Prime Minister Theresa May insisted "the ball is in their court."
When asked about it following his lunch with his British counterpart David Davis, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier turned toward journalists chasing him and said, with pointing finger: "Brexit is not a game. Don't forget it."
More than a year has passed since Britain voted to leave the EU, and six months since Britain triggered the two-year countdown to its EU exit.
Yesterday, May said the UK was planning for the possibility that the two-year negotiating period might end without a deal.
Critics have accused the government of failing to prepare for a "no deal" Brexit, which would mean an end to tariff-free trade with the EU and would be a shock to the British economy.
Tusk insisted the EU is hoping to avoid that. "We hear from London that the UK government is preparing for a 'no deal' scenario. I would like to say very clearly that the EU is not working on such a scenario," the EU leader insisted.
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