EU’s Barnier Sees ‘Serious Divergences’ as U.K. Warns on Fish

(Bloomberg) -- The European Union's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, and his British counterpart David Frost both warned that major disagreements remain in their negotiations over the two sides' future relationship and that time to reach an accord is running out.

In a statement on Friday, Frost said that while there had been “limited” progress in settling their differences on what state aid rules the U.K. will have to follow, the gap between them on fisheries is “very large and, without further realism and flexibility from the EU, risks being impossible to bridge.”

The two subjects are the biggest obstacles to an accord as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson prepares to speak with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday in an effort to unblock the negotiations. Von der Leyen has signaled she is willing to let the Brexit negotiations intensify as long as Johnson makes concessions.

“These issues are fundamental to our future status as an independent country,” Frost said. “I am concerned that there is very little time now to resolve these issues ahead of the European Council on 15 October.”

Earlier, Barnier warned of “persistent serious divergences on matters of major importance for the EU.” He also expressed concern about the lack of time remaining, saying “these divergences must necessarily be overcome over the next weeks.”

Despite Barnier's downbeat remarks, he said there had been some progress as well and that talks would continue.

There were “positive new developments on some topics such as aviation safety, social security coordination, and the respect of fundamental rights and individual freedoms, which are a pre-condition for our future police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters,” Barnier said.

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