EU Barnier speaking on Brexit hurdles ahead

European Commission's Head of Task Force for Relations with the United Kingdom Michel Barnier is on the wires saying:

  • EU-UK partnership is a huge challenge
  • aligning with EU standards may have a price to UK, but the return is access to our single market
  • when Britain says it does not want to align with EU standards and regulations in the future, it is not clear where or by how much it wishes to diverge
  • not clear how Britain will choose to leave Europe's societal and regulatory model
  • Britain cannot expect high quality access to EU single market if it insists on completing on state aid, social or environmental standards
  • many of the consequences of Brexit have been underestimated,, UK must now face reality
  • there is no possibility for frictionless trade between EU and UK
  • there will be no compromise on single market,' never, never, never'
  • implementing Irish protocol will build UK – EU trust

Some sobering comments from the EU Brexit negotiator to the UK.

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