Brexit deal fair and balanced - Barnier
The European Union's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said the draft deal reached with London was "fair and balanced".
Barnier told a news conference after briefing the 27 national EU ministers that they generally approved of the draft divorce agreement reached last week, and that a blank in the document on the end date for a possible extension of the status-quo transition period should be resolved for a summit on Sunday.
"The deal is fair and balanced," Barnier said. "We are in fact at a decisive moment in this process; no one should lose sight of the progress that has been achieved in Brussels and in London," Barnier said.
"In particular, member states support the draft withdrawal agreement. The EU side will still have to decide the internal process for agreeing to extend the transition period."
The transition period is intended to keep post-Brexit Britain subject to EU rules - but without a vote - for long enough to allow details of their future relationship to be negotiated.
Barnier said any extension would only be a one-off and must be clearly limited in time. The view was echoed by the French minister attending the meeting, who said it was important to offer certainty to all those affected by Britain's withdrawal.
Barnier said the UK would have to make appropriate contributions to EU coffers if it were to stay in the bloc's customs union and single market beyond the currently envisaged end of the transition at end-2020, 21 months after Brexit.
The UK has been saying any extension would only be "a matter of months" but has also sought to keep it open for now. Barnier insisted that a latest cut-off would be agreed this week.
Published: by Radio NewsHub