(Reuters) – Britain and the European Union have agreed to pursue ‘mini-deals’ in areas of mutual interest, such as aviation and road transport, even if trade negotiations for a wider deal break down next week, The Times https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/post-brexit-britain-and-eu-agree-to-pursue-mini-deals-if-talks-fail-next-week-8b7jrrjc8 reported on Saturday.
European Union chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and Britain’s chief negotiator David Frost have agreed that even if a wider deal proves impossible to reach on Oct. 15, contact will continue, The Times said.
In such an event, the two sides would spend November attempting to put together mini-deals to offset the likely disruption when the transition period ends on Dec. 31, the newspaper said, without citing sources.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has set a deadline of the Oct. 15 EU summit for a deal, but the two sides are still haggling over a trade deal that would kick in when informal membership ends on Dec. 31.
(Reporting by Aakriti Bhalla in Bengaluru, Editing by Rosalba O’Brien)
