FILE PHOTO: Britain’s Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is seen outside Downing Street in London, Britain, September 4, 2019. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
LONDON (Reuters) – The contours of a possible Brexit deal are now clear so divorce talks between Britain and the European Union are at a crucial juncture, British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Monday.
“We’ve shared a lot of detail and the contours of a deal are now very clear,” Raab told BBC radio ahead of between Prime Minister Boris Johnson and EU leaders on in Luxembourg on Monday.
“I think this is an important milestone, the prime minister is building on the previous talks that we’ve had since he came to office.”
“Our requirements are very clear: we want to remove the anti-democratic backstop and we want to be able to transition our future relationship to a best in class free trade agreement,” Raab said.
He added that the Oct. 17-18 EU summit was where Britain hoped to seal a deal.
“That’s the place where a deal can be done,” Raab said. He added that if a deal was not possible, Britain would still leave on Oct. 31.
Reporting by Guy Faulconbridge and Kate Holton; editing by Michael Holden