Irish Prime Minister believes EU will have upper hand in trade talks with UK
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The Irish prime minister has told BBC News he believes the EU will have the upper hand in the upcoming trade talks with the UK.
Leo Varadkar compared the two sides to football teams, suggesting the EU would have the “stronger team” due to its larger population and market.
He also suggested that Britain misjudged the first phase of Brexit.
The taoiseach is meeting the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, for talks in Dublin.
In an interview with BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg, days before Britain is due to leave the EU, Mr Varadkar added “The European Union is a union of 27 member states. The UK is only one country. And we have a population and a market of 450 million people.
“The UK, it’s about 60[m]. So if these were two teams up against each other playing football, who do you think has the stronger team?”
The UK government aims to secure a “zero tariff, zero quota” free trade deal with the EU by the end of the year, Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay has said.
But Mr Varadkar questioned that timetable, disagreeing with Boris Johnson’s suggestion there is “bags of time” to sign an agreement, warning “it will be difficult to do this.”
He warned there might have to be an extension to the next phase of the Brexit process, beyond the end of this year, to finalise a trade deal.
Mr Varadkar, the leader of the Fine Gael party, is fighting his first election campaign as taoiseach. Ireland heads to the polls on 8 February.
