LONDON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European Union chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier will shortly return to Brussels from London on Friday after a morning meeting with Britain’s lead negotiator David Frost, an EU official told Reuters.
The two negotiators’ teams are in fraught talks to reach a deal on the future relationship between the EU and Britain ahead of a meeting of the leaders of the 27-nation bloc next week. Further talks are scheduled in Brussels ahead of that summit.
The two sides say they are inching towards a deal that would set terms for around $900 billion in trade after Dec. 31 – when the current transitional arrangements end – though sticking points remain on fishing, level playing-field issues and governance.
The United Kingdom formally left the EU on Jan. 31, more than three years after it voted for Brexit in a referendum.
(Reporting by John Chalmers in Brussels and Guy Faulconbridge in London; editing by John Stonestreet)
