EU has warned trade talks cannot start next month unless agreement is reached, with Ireland unhappy with proposals to dateA final decision on the Northern Irish border cannot be made until a UK-EU trade deal has been agreed, Liam Fox has said, despite warnings from Brussels that trade talks cannot proceed unless an agreement is reached within days. Asked whether the Irish government would be allowed to hold up the widening of talks on to trade, one EU ambassador responded: “We trust in the Irish and the commission on this. There is complete unity.”Warnings about the prospect of an Irish veto on progressing to trade talks at the December summit continued over the weekend. Ireland’s EU commissioner, Phil Hogan, told the Observer that the country would “continue to play tough to the end” over its threat to veto trade talks without border guarantees. “Every business I speak to does not want a border down the middle of the Irish Sea.

Source: The Guardian November 26, 2017 11:28 UTC