EU would prefer a Brexit deal but ready for no deal, says Breton

FILE PHOTO: European Union Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton holds a video news conference, to present a "White Paper" to better arm the EU against unfair competition from heavily subsidised foreign companies, at the European Commission in Brussels, Belgium June 17, 2020. Kenzo Tribouillard/Pool via REUTERS

PARIS (Reuters) - The European Union would prefer to have a Brexit deal, but it is ready in case no agreement can be reached, the Commissioner for the EU's single market, Thierry Breton, told BFM business radio on Tuesday.

Britain, the world's sixth-biggest economy, left the EU in January and has since been locked in painstaking talks with the world's largest trading bloc to keep trade flowing freely.