Ireland PANIC: Coveney admits Brexit deal looks very difficult – rushes into crisis talks
IRELAND has warned it will be "very difficult" to broker a Brexit trade deal as the the talks hit another stumbling block.
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Foreign minister Simon Coveney told Express.co.uk he hoped a deal would be possible. But he warned: “It certainly looks very difficult at the moment.” His intervention came after Michel Barnier informed EU27 ambassadors this morning that the talks are still deadlocked on the issues of post-Brexit fishing rights, the so-called level playing field and policing the final agreement.
In a separate interview with Irish broadcaster RTE, Mr Coveney said the bloc’s Brexit chief had given a “very gloomy, downbeat” assessment of the current state of play.
He added: “He is very cautious about the ability to make progress today.
“There really was no progress made yesterday, so we've got to try to make a breakthrough at some point today, before the two principals, the Commission president and the Prime Minister speak later on this evening.
"Unfortunately, I’d like to be giving more positive news, but at the moment these negotiations seem stalled, and the barriers to progress are still very much in place.
"We haven’t, through the negotiating teams, found a way to find compromises that can progress these negotiations towards a successful conclusion.
"There is still time. Lunchtime seems a long way away now, given the intensity of these discussions, but that’s where we are, and anyone who is briefing that there are breakthroughs in either of these two big areas...I don’t think is accurate.”
Brussels insiders are braced for the wrangling over the post-Brexit trade deal to run at least another 48 hours after Mr Barnier told a seperate briefing of MEPs more clarity could be available on Wednesday.
Mr Barnier dismissed overnight claims of a breakthrough in the discussions over future access to Britain's coastal waters.
He was said to have branded the reports a "myth" during his meeting with EU27 ambassadors.
The Brexit chief insisted the talks are still deadlocked around the main sticking points – fishing, level playing field and goverance.
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An EU diplomat said: "EU-UK negotiations have entered the endgame, time is running out quickly.
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The Brexit trade talks are set to continue throughout the day before Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Commission President Ursula von der Leyen hold their own crunch phone call.
Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove is also in Brussels today for Brexit Joint Committee talks with his EU counterpart Maros Sefcovic.