Barnier says UK risks crashing out of EU

Michel Barnier, chief negotiator for the European Union (EU), looks on during a news conference ahead of a Eurogroup meeting of European finance ministers in Brussels, Belgium, on Monday, May 22, 2017. European Union ministers finalized their Brexit negotiating position a day after the U.K. threatened to quit talks on its departure unless the bloc drops its demands for a divorce payment as high as 100 billion euros (112 billion). Photographer: Jasper Juinen/Bloomberg

BRUSSELS: Michel Barnier (pic), the European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator, said the UK risks exiting the bloc without a deal in place if Theresa May’s government “wastes” more time before starting negotiations, according to an interview with the Financial Times and other European newspapers.

“We haven’t negotiated, we haven’t progressed,” Barnier told the news outlets, highlighting the nearly three months that have passed since the UK notified the EU of its intention to leave. “Thus we must begin this negotiation. We are ready as soon as the UK itself is ready.”