EU's Barnier Warns U.K. It Must Produce Its Post-Brexit `Vision'

(Bloomberg) -- The U.K. must present a clear plan for its future relationship with the European Union if Brexit negotiations are to move forward, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said.

Signaling how talks have hit an impasse less than six months before a preliminary deadline in October, Barnier said the U.K. needed to explain its “vision” and come up with a solution to keep the Irish border invisible.

“It is now up to the U.K. to come up with its vision for the future, which should confirm the U.K.’s red lines or adapt them,” Barnier said Monday in a speech to an industry convention in Hanover, Germany. “Once we have more clarity from the U.K. we will prepare a political declaration on the future relationship.”

Barnier is putting the ball back in the U.K.’s court as Prime Minister Theresa May’s government shows signs of tension over whether Britain should remain in the EU’s customs union.

The EU published its first vision of the post-Brexit relationship at a summit in March. U.K.-EU negotiations have made little progress since then, with disagreements continuing over how to handle the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland and other separation issues, as well as future ties.

On the Irish border, “we have done our share of the work,” Barnier said. The EU has dismissed the U.K.’s proposals, which include using technology to check the movement of goods.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ian Wishart in Brussels at iwishart@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at acrawford6@bloomberg.net, Tony Czuczka

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