Michel Barnier has repeated his warning that financial services would not be part of any final trade deal Virginia Mayo/APBritain must complete negotiations with 168 countries by itself to replicate or roll over more than 750 international trade or aviation agreements before a Brexit transition period begins, the European Union’s chief negotiator said yesterday. In comments aimed at Liam Fox, the trade secretary, Michel Barnier questioned whether Dr Fox’s department was capable of carrying out the negotiations in time for Brexit in March 2019. “The UK needs to prepare as of now to be able to replicate these agreements,” he said. “They need to ensure that they have the administrative capacity.”In a jibe at Eurosceptics who attack EU officials for “red tape”, the former French foreign minister added: “It’s always useful to remember that when we talk about red tape here in Brussels,…

Source: The Times December 21, 2017 00:06 UTC