Hopes of EU trade pact after tariffs

UK Government ministers met with the European Union's trade chief in London yesterday, amid leaks of a mooted UK-EU agreement on “free and open trade” in the face of United States President Donald Trump's tariffs.

- PRESS ASSOCIATION REPORTERS

Nick Thomas-Symonds, the UK Government's minister in charge of EU negotiations, co-chaired the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee with the EU’s Maros Sefcovic during the trade commissioner's first official visit to the UK since the Labour Government came into power.

They pointed to EU citizens’ rights in the UK under the settlement scheme and timely implementation of the Windsor Framework to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland as some of their shared priorities in a joint statement after the meeting.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds also met with Mr Sefcovic. The meeting comes ahead of a UK-EU summit in May that will be seen as a critical moment in the Government's drive to reset post-Brexit relations with Brussels.