Varadkar: EU will have stronger team in trade talks with UK

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has suggested the EU will be the “stronger team” in post-Brexit trade talks with the UK.

Comparing negotiations to a football match, he suggested to the BBC that the EU would be at an advantage due to its larger population and market.

The taoiseach said he did not think the UK had “yet come to terms with the fact it’s now a small country”.

Boris Johnson said he would be able to “wrap this all up” by the end of 2020.

Mr Varadkar held talks with EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier on Monday.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Barnier told reporters the two sides faced “the risk of a cliff edge” if trade terms were not agreed by the end of the post-Brexit transition period in December.

He cautioned that a “very short time” remained to “rebuild” the UK-EU relationship.

In an interview earlier with BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg, Mr Varadkar also said striking a deal in this timeframe was possible but would be “difficult”.

He pledged the EU would not be “dragging its feet,” but added: “My assessment is that it is more likely that we will need an extension in order to finalise a free trade agreement and future economic partnership than not need it.”

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Source: BBC