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| A man waves the Union Jack on Brexit day in London on January 31 |
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in a newspaper interview on Saturday there was a growing risk of a hard Brexit in the midst of the coronavirus crisis as negotiations between Britain and the European Union so far on the future trade relationship had yielded hardly any progress.
Britain left the EU in January, and talks with the bloc are now focused on setting new trading terms from 2021, when Londonโs status-quo transition period ends. However the talks quickly hit an impasse when negotiations resumed last month, according to diplomats and officials.
โItโs worrying that Britain is moving further away from our jointly agreed political declaration on key issues in the negotiations,โ Maas told Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper.
โItโs simply not on, because the negotiations are a complete package as itโs laid out in the political declaration,โ he added.
Maas said there was currently neither common ground on how to shape a comprehensive trade deal nor on whether to extend the negotiation period beyond the end of the year.
โThe British government is still refusing to extend the deadline,โ Maas said. โIf it stays that way, we will have to deal with Brexit in addition to the coronavirus at the turn of the year.โ
Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said on Friday the coronavirus pandemic had made an already difficult timeline for a British-European Union trade deal โvirtually impossibleโ and that it would make sense to seek more time.
