British Brexit secretary David Davis (L) and European Union (EU) chief negotiator Michel Barnier attend a joint press briefing in Brussels, Belgium, Aug. 31, 2017. No decisive progress has been reached in the third round of Brexit talks, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier said here Thursday, warning that the talk mandate given by the European Parliament should not be underestimated. (Xinhua/Ye Pingfan)
BRUSSELS, Aug. 31 (Xinhua) -- No decisive progress has been reached in the third round of Brexit talks, European Union (EU) chief negotiator Michel Barnier said here Thursday, warning that the talk mandate given by the European Parliament should not be underestimated.
"Protect EU order and Single Market is our top priority in Brexit talks...you cannot simply remain in the single market while shun EU responsibilities," said Barnier.
"If we want the talks to be successful, we have to be as constructive as possible and as less ambiguous as possible," he added.
For his part, British Brexit Secretary David Davis told reporters in the joint press briefing with Barnier that the two sides had deep negotiations in this tough week.
"We want EU to be more flexible and the third round Brexit talks could be constructive," said Davis, noting that flexible and imaginative should be the right path of the European Council.
Highly anticipated, the third round Brexit talks kicked off on Monday in EU Commission headquarters. There were three negotiating groups covering citizens' rights, financial settlement and other separation issues. The issues related to Northern Ireland and the governance of the withdrawal agreement were addressed by the Coordinators.
