UK and EU make one more push for elusive Brexit trade deal

UK and EU make one more push for elusive Brexit trade deal

SeattlePI.com

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LONDON (AP) — Negotiators from Britain and the European Union were meeting Monday to seek a breakthrough in gridlocked trade talks, with just days until a deadline to strike a post-Brexit deal.

EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier is due to meet his British counterpart, David Frost, in London, after both sides warned there is little time to bridge big differences between them.

Barnier tweeted that he was “Happy to be back in London today, redoubling our efforts to reach agreement on the future (EU-U.K.) partnership.”

Although Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Sunday that a deal is “there to be done” before the two sides’ mid-November deadline, obstacles remain over fishing rights and competition rules. On top of that, controversial legislation from Johnson’s government threatens to derail a deal.

Johnson has infuriated the EU with a bill that breaches parts of the legally binding withdrawal agreement that allowed for Britain’s exit from the bloc in January. The Internal Market Bill gives the U.K. power to override sections of the agreement dealing with Northern Ireland trade.

The U.K. acknowledges that the bill breaches international law, and the legislation has been condemned by the EU, U.S. President-elect Joe Biden and scores of British lawmakers, including many from Johnson’s Conservative Party.

On Monday Parliament’s upper chamber, the House of Lords, is set to remove the law-breaking clauses from the legislation. The government says it will restore them when the bill returns to the House of Commons in the coming weeks.

Environment Secretary George Eustice said that fears the bill could lead to border checks between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland — something that could undermine Northern Ireland peace — were unfounded.

“There will...

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