(Bloomberg) -- The European Union and the U.K. said they will seek “tangible progress” by June in negotiations over their future relationship after the coronavirus pandemic forced the two sides to put the talks on hold.EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier and his U.K. counterpart David Frost held a “constructive” video conference on Wednesday, the two sides said in a joint statement. Having identified “all major areas of divergence and convergence,” they agreed to resume formal negotiating rounds by video conference.“We need real, tangible progress in the negotiations by June,” Barnier said on Twitter. “We must advance across all areas.”Brussels and London are now left with even less time to bridge their differences in areas ranging from fish stocks to competition policy. If they fail to make headway by June, the U.K. has previously said that it will start planning for a no-deal separation.Speculation had been building that the U.K. would seek to delay its final parting from the bloc, due at the year-end, to allow more time to thrash out a trade agreement. But the U.K. government has so far repeatedly ruled out postponing that deadline -- a position Frost repeated on Wednesday.The three rounds of negotiations will take place in the weeks of April 20, May 11 and June 1.If the two sides haven’t signed a trade deal by the end of the year, Britain would in effect crash out and have to trade with the bloc on terms set by the World Trade Organization, meaning the return of tariffs and quotas.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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