Tehran, 09 May_Germany’s Foreign Minister warns hard Brexit increasingly likely to happen as UK-EU talks stall
In an interview with Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper on Saturday, the German top diplomat expressed his concern amid floundering trade talks between London and Brussels, which have not reached an agreement yet on whether to extend the negotiation period beyond the current year.
"It’s worrying that Britain is moving further away from our jointly agreed political declaration on key issues in the negotiations," Maas said, noting, "It's simply not on, because the negotiations are a complete package as it's laid out in the political declaration."
The UK officially exited the EU in January and negotiations with the EU are now concentrated on establishing new trading terms from the beginning of 2021, when the British government status quo transition period ends.
The administration of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has already rejected an extension of the end-of-the-year deadline, but the EU appears to have been striving, during the past couple of weeks, for pushing the deadline further into 2021.
In an interview with Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper on Saturday, the German top diplomat expressed his concern amid floundering trade talks between London and Brussels, which have not reached an agreement yet on whether to extend the negotiation period beyond the current year.
"It’s worrying that Britain is moving further away from our jointly agreed political declaration on key issues in the negotiations," Maas said, noting, "It's simply not on, because the negotiations are a complete package as it's laid out in the political declaration."
The UK officially exited the EU in January and negotiations with the EU are now concentrated on establishing new trading terms from the beginning of 2021, when the British government status quo transition period ends.
The administration of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has already rejected an extension of the end-of-the-year deadline, but the EU appears to have been striving, during the past couple of weeks, for pushing the deadline further into 2021.