UK Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said he had a “constructive meeting” European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic, on Brexit. “We both were clear with each other where we were still some distance apart but we were both also clear that we wanted to bridge that gap,” he added. “Maros Sefcovic and I are committed to using every moment available: every second, every minute, every hour, in order to reach agreement and I’m confident that we will.”
But Gove also insisted that the clauses of the Internal Mark Bill “are there, they’re in legislation, supported by the House of Commons, as a safety net, if need be. And those clauses will remain in that bill.”
Sefcovic, on the other hand, said, “the UK’s positions are far apart from what the EU can accept. I have repeated the EU’s request to withdraw the contentious part of the draft Internal Markets Bill by the end of September.” “We maintain that the bill, if adopted in its current form, would constitute an extremely serious violation of … the Withdrawal Agreement and of international law,” he said.
Brexit negotiation will resume in Brussels on Tuesday, lasting until Friday morning. The EU is expecting a deal by the end of October, or early November, to allow time for ratification by the European Parliament and some national parliaments, for the deal to take effect from 2021.
