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Face-to-face negotiations are set to continue in London on Saturday, as another week lapses in what is becoming a mad-dash to a post-Brexit trade deal finish line.
The European Union's chief negotiator Michel Barnier said in a tweet that he and his team would travel to London on Friday evening after in-person negotiations were halted last week when a member of Barnier's team tested positive for the coronavirus.
Talks continued virtually, but appear to have yielded little progress, with Barnier saying the "same significant divergences persist."
Ahead of talks resuming, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said "substantial and important differences" still needed to be bridged and insisted the ball lies in the EU's court.
"The likelihood of a deal is very much determined by our friends and partners in the EU," he told reporters while visiting a science park on Friday. "There's a deal that could be done if they want to do it."
He said if no deal could be reached, the UK would make a "great success" out of an Australia-style relationship with Europe. This would include the resumption of quotas and tariffs.
The UK Office for Budget Responsibility said earlier this week that failure to strike a deal would shave 2 percent off GDP.
Barnier works to break a deadlock over fisheries
Before Barnier set off for London, he briefed EU ambassadors on the state of Brexit negotiations. According to Irish broadcaster RTE, Barnier told them he made an offer to the UK to return up to 18 percent of the fish quota caught in UK waters by European fleets to the UK. The offer could be worth up to $140 million.
Barnier was also scheduled to meet with EU fisheries ministers on Friday afternoon. While Brussels tried to downplay the video conference as a regular update, it presents Barnier with the opportunity to reassess whether long-standing hard lines on access to UK fishing waters are as solid as they once were, especially as the clock runs down on the December 31 deadline.
(CGTN)
