No breakthrough in 7th round negotiation on EU-UK relations

There has been no breakthrough after the seventh round of negotiations between the European Union (EU) and Britain on their future relationship, the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier said on Friday, reported Xinhua.

"Those who were hoping for negotiations to move swiftly forward this week will have been disappointed," Barnier told a press conference in Brussels. "Too often this week, it felt as if we were going backwards more than forwards," he added.

He blamed the British negotiators for having not shown "any real willingness to move forward on issues of fundamental importance for the European Union."

The chief negotiator noted that the two sides remained far apart on issues including a level playing field in trade, fisheries, governance and law enforcement, although progress was made on technical issues like energy cooperation and anti-money laundering.

Warning that an agreement between the United Kingdom and the EU "seems unlikely at this stage," Barnier said he thought it is still possible to reach it "despite the relatively short time left to us."

In order to achieve this, he stressed, the British side "will need to come forward with clear, constructive proposals during the next round" due to take place in London in September.