EU and UK to Begin Trade Negotiations in March

The United Kingdom and the European Union will begin negotiations on their future trade relations on March 3, according to the Guardian.

According to the publication, the negotiating groups, which will continue to be led by David Frost of the British side and Michel Barnier of the European Union, have a difficult task of finalizing the discussions by December 31st this year.

Brussels believes that completing negotiations on all complex trade issues in just 10 months is too ambitious, but the British government, led by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, does not intend to extend the transition period.

The United Kingdom was supposed to leave the EU on March 29, 2019, but the date was postponed many times as MEPs could not agree on the conditions for leaving the EU. Johnson, whose party won a significant lead over the opposition after the early December parliamentary elections, was able to move things forward.