Barnier and Frost to dine on fish as they discuss trade deal at Number 10

The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and his UK counterpart David Frost will have a private dinner in Downing Street on Tuesday evening, where fish will be on the menu.

Mr Barnier and Mr Frost will kick off the latest round of trade-deal talks by dining on chargrilled asparagus, followed by a fillet of halibut and then a terrine of summer fruits at Number 10.

Major stumbling blocks on the road to a deal include the “level playing field” – conditions Brussels demands to ensure fair competition by keeping the UK closely tied to EU standards on workers’ rights, the environment and state subsidies – and fishing rights.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said that while the talks are “informal”, discussions were likely to “cover everything from what the EU calls the level-playing field through to governance structures”.

No ministers will be present at the dinner but “one or two” officials from each side may attend. Downing Street said social distancing rules would be obeyed.

The two negotiators will be joined by their teams for further talks on Wednesday.

Last week, discussions between the two sides on a post-Brexit trade deal broke up early with “significant differences” remaining.

It had been hoped the face-to-face meetings – agreed following a high-level conference call last month between Boris Johnson and the European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen – would inject new momentum into the process.

The Prime Minister has been adamant he will not allow the discussions to drag on into the autumn, arguing that British businesses and citizens need certainty on the way forward before then.

If the two sides are unable to reach a deal by the end of the current Brexit transition period at the end of the year, it will mean Britain leaving the single market and the customs union without any agreement on future access.

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