As the third round of Brexit negotiations get under way, Barnier and UK Brexit secretary David Davis both addressed a media conference on Monday.

Barnier outlined his reservations toward the talks, emphasising that time is at a premium.

“To be honest, I am concerned. Time passes quickly. I welcome the UK government paper and we have read them very carefully,” he said.

“But we need UK positions on all separation issues and this is necessary to make sufficient progress. We must start negotiations seriously. We need UK papers that are clear in order to have constructive negotiations”, he said.

Barnier also highlighted that greater clarity is needed when moving forward.

“The sooner we remove the ambiguity, the sooner we will be in a position to discuss the future relationship plus transitional period. The EU council guidelines are clear that what is expected on separation on transition and on conditions for the future relationship,” he continued.

Negotiations

These are expected to be the first real meaningful negotiations between the two on Brexit, with these rounds of negotiations expected to be wrapped up by Thursday.

In mid-August, the British government released position papers on customs arrangement between the UK and the EU, the issue of the border and Northern Ireland and “Continuity in the availability of goods for the EU and the UK”.

The papers were welcomed by the EU Commission, which described the paper as a “positive step towards really starting phase one of negotiations. The clock is ticking and this will allow us to make progress.”

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