EU’s Chief Brexit Negotiator Tests Positive for Coronavirus

By BBC

Michel Barnier, the head of the EU task force handling the post-Brexit relationship with the UK, has tested positive for coronavirus and says he is doing well.

Face-to-face negotiations between the UK and the EU have already effectively stopped because of the health advice on either side of the Channel. Some of Mr Barnier’s close-knit team are also now in isolation.

But there’s still plenty of work to be done. Both sides have shared with each other hundreds of pages of draft legal text which need to be analyzed and mined for areas of agreement or potential compromise.

Plus, the deadlock will probably only be broken with some big political decisions and we’ve learnt they can happen very quickly if the conditions are right.