London: Negotiators from the UK and the European Union (EU) have said that the ongoing trade talks between the two sides were reaching the ‘make or break’ point, with key points of difference proving hard to resolve, a media report said Saturday.
The BBC report cited UK sources as saying that there had been no breakthrough this week between the UK’s negotiator David Frost and his EU counterpart Michel Barnier, with the two ending their discussions in a similar position to how they started them.
There were still “quite big gaps” between the sides, they added.
Meanwhile, an informed EU source said one of the recent meetings between Frost and Barnier had been “short and brutal”.
The two men are due to meet again in Brussels Monday.
Last week, the UK’s National Audit Office (NAO) warned of “significant disruption” when the Brexit transition period ends December 31.
Regardless of the outcome of the post-Brexit negotiations for a free trade agreement between the UK and the EU, there will be a significant change at the border in 2021, it added.
The government spending watchdog said in its latest report that while the UK has now left the EU, preparations to manage the border at the end of the transition period remain very challenging.
The UK and the EU started their lengthy and bumpy post-Brexit talks in March after the country formally exited the bloc January 31, trying to secure a future trade deal before the Brexit transition period expires.
IANS