EU-UK trade talks confirmed cancelled this week

The British government confirmed Tuesday it would not resume post-Brexit trade talks with the EU as planned on Wednesday because of the coronavirus outbreak. Officials had been discussing plans for videoconferences after this week's face-to-face talks in London, the second round of formal negotiations was canceled.

"In light of the latest guidance on coronavirus, we will not formally be convening negotiating work strands tomorrow in the way we did in the previous round," a government statement said. "We expect to share a draft-free trade agreement alongside the draft legal texts of a number of the standalone agreements in the near future still, as planned.

"Both sides remain fully committed to the negotiations and we remain in regular contact with the European Commission to consider alternative ways to continue discussions," it added. This includes video conferencing and exploring flexibility in the structure for the coming weeks, the statement said.

Britain left the European Union on January 31 but both sides agreed a standstill transition until the end of 2020 to allow them to agree a new partnership. Brussels has already warned that the timetable is too tight and delays from coronavirus have sparked calls in London for Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ask for more time for the talks.

However, the government statement said Tuesday: "The transition period ends on 31 December 2020. This is enshrined in UK law.".

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