UK and EU suspend negotiations on future relations

　　UK and EU suspend negotiations on future relations

　　Xinhua News Agency, London, December 4th (Reporter Wang Huihui and Jinjing) The UK and the European Union announced on the 4th that as the conditions for reaching an agreement are not yet in place, the two sides suspend negotiations on future relations with a trade agreement as the core.

　　Frost, the chief representative of the UK’s “Brexit” negotiations, and Barnier, the chief representative of the European Union, simultaneously issued a statement on social media on the same day. There are major differences in the field, and the conditions for reaching an agreement are not yet available.

　　The statement said that the two sides agreed to suspend negotiations. European Commission President Von der Lein and British Prime Minister Johnson will discuss negotiations on the afternoon of the 5th.

　　In late November, because a member of the EU negotiating team was infected with the new crown virus, the two sides suspended face-to-face negotiations and moved to online.

On November 28, the two sides resumed face-to-face negotiations in London and continued to compete on the three core issues of fisheries, a level playing field and contract performance management.

All along, both sides have expressed their commitment to reaching an agreement, but they have not ruled out the possibility of negotiation failure.

　　Britain officially "Brexit" on January 31 this year, and then entered an 11-month transition period.

If the UK and Europe fail to reach a trade agreement during the transition period, the trade between the two sides will return to the WTO framework from 2021 and re-implement border inspections and tariffs.