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A post-Brexit trade deal needs to be struck within days, the Irish Government has said.<\/p>\nA post-Brexit trade deal needs to be struck within days, the Irish Government has said.<\/p>\n
A \u201ccliff-edge\u201d failure of talks, just hours before the transition period runs out, cannot be allowed, Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney warned.<\/p>\n
He said it was a good sign that there was a shift in the joint language used by leaders in Brussels and London after deciding to extend negotiations.<\/p>\n
He noted there was largely agreement on maintaining existing standards to ensure no unfair competition on issues like workers\u2019 rights, consumer protection and climate change, adding: \u201cThe real challenge is how do we deal with future change?\u201d<\/p>\n
He said that if the EU introduced new regulations around something like climate change and the UK did not respond in kind, it needed to ensure British companies selling into Europe\u2019s single market were not deriving competitive advantage.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really needs to be done over the next coming days,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the Irish perspective we want a deal.\u201d<\/p>\n
He told RT\u00c9 Radio\u2019s This Week it would be a \u201chuge political failing\u201d if there was no agreement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a matter of days now.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf this is to fail we cannot allow failure to happen with 24 hours to go before a cliff-edge.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth sides do want a deal and they want a deal now to provide certainty for so many people who have been waiting for it for years,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
He noted that Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen had described the discussions as \u201cconstructive and useful\u201d, in a shift from their previous terms of \u201clively and interesting\u201d.<\/p>\n
He said their joint statement was a sign they were working to try to find a way forward together.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only way we get a deal here that both sides can live with is if both understand the real and genuine problems of the other side and try to resolve them through a legal text.\u201d<\/p>\n