Following the European Council meeting on 15 October 2020, Mr Barnier said that the EU was “absolutely determined to reach a fair deal with the UK”. He said that the EU would “do everything we can, but not at any price”. According to Mr Barnier, he and his team will “continue intensive discussions over the coming weeks”.

In the post Council press conference, Mr Barnier said that the EU’s position has been “crystal clear” from day one. “If you want access to our market of 450 million people, there must be a level playing field. There must be free and fair competition”, he said. Mr Barnier noted that it was clear from the Council meeting that there was “a very full unity between all Member States” and “[w]e will remain calm, united, determined”.

Mr Barnier also said that there had been “genuine, good progress on a number of topics”, on which he could see the prospect of agreement. In fact, he said, the parties were “almost in a position to draw up and flesh out this agreement”. However, he said that there were “a number of topics over which there remain not only question marks, but also points of difference. And there are three topics on which the gap is too wide at present”.

Mr Barnier said that progress was needed on the question of the level playing field, the question of governance, and also on the question of fisheries. “There is therefore a lot of work, a lot of work for us to focus on”, he said.

Mr Barnier said that he is still in discussions with his counterpart David Frost, and that he will be travelling to London on Monday for the week, and if necessary, the weekend as well, and the following week in Brussels. “This is in any case what I have proposed to the British team, that we hold intensive negotiations in the little time that we have left in order to reach the agreement we hope for by the end of October. Not at any price, but the agreement that we hope for and of course that Europe’s leaders hope for as well”, he concluded. To read Mr Barnier’s press statement in full, click here.