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Michel Barnier takes fresh swipe at UK with plea for 'clear positions' on Brexit

Agnes Chambre

2 min read

Michel Barnier has accused the UK government of not being clear about what it wants from the Brexit negotiations - for the second time this week.


The EU's chief negotiator hit out as the latest round of talks continued in Brussels.

Earlier this week, Mr Barnier said he was “concerned” at the slow progress of the Brexit negotiations and the “ambiguity” of the UK’s position.

He also warned that time was running out to strike a satisfactory deal, with the UK set to officially leave the bloc on 31 March, 2019.

Mr Barnier used his Twitter page today to make clear his continuing frustration.

Mr Barnier’s attack comes despite the Government publishing a number of documents in the last two weeks setting out possible ways to solve issues ranging from the Irish border to post-Brexit customs arrangements.

European Commission president Jean Claude Juncker also hit out at the Government this week, saying the proposed solutions in the documents were “unsatisfactory”.

“I did read, with the requisite attention, all the papers produced by Her Majesty’s government and none of those is actually satisfactory,” he said.

“So there is still an enormous amount of issues which remain to be settled.”

It was reported today that Theresa May could bypass Mr Barnier and Mr Juncker and go straight to Angela Merkel and Emmanuel Macron in a bid to break the ongoing deadlock.

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Read the most recent article written by Agnes Chambre - Confusion among Labour's top team as senior figures disagree over second EU referendum

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