<p class="bodytext">The EU has rejected the latest UK offer on fishing but is ready to pursue a post-Brexit trade deal even beyond the end of the year, diplomats said on Tuesday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">According to sources in a meeting of ambassadors, EU negotiator Michel Barnier can not guarantee there will be a deal but Brussels' "door will remain open" even after Britain leaves the single market.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"EU negotiators are in a last push now to make progress and to clinch a deal acceptable for both sides," Barnier said, according to a European diplomat, in an account matched by two others.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The EU will not close its door to the UK and remains ready to negotiate even beyond January 1".</p>.<p class="bodytext">According to the diplomats, Britain had suggested EU access to UK fish stocks be reduced by 35 per cent, phased in over three years. The EU had suggested a level 25 per cent, and over six years.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But, crucially, the British offer did not include "pelagic fish" -- those that swim freely away from coasts or the seabed. If these fish are included the EU would lose 60 per cent of its current access, they said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">This marked a step too far for member states with northern fishing fleets, like France, Denmark and the Netherlands.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Progress has been made. Most issues are preliminarily closed or close to being agreed," one diplomat said, recounting Barnier's briefing to EU ambassadors.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"However, differences on fisheries remain difficult to bridge. Unfortunately, the UK is not moving enough yet to clinch a fair deal on fisheries."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Before heading into the closed door meeting, Barnier told reporters: "We are really in the crucial moment, and we are giving it the final push.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"In 10 days the UK will leave the single market and I will continue to work, in total transparency with the member states and the parliament."</p>.<p class="bodytext">If the talks between Barnier and his UK counterpart David Frost fail to reach a breakthrough in the coming days, the UK will leave without a follow-on trade deal.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Tariffs would be reimposed on cross-Channel trade in food and goods, exacerbating the economic shock of a return to a border after 47 years of integration.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But the talks are deadlocked over how to ensure fair trade rules are respected in the future and, especially, over how to assign fishing rights in UK waters.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On Monday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen held a crisis call to discuss the Brexit talks but failed to make a breakthrough.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The eleventh-hour talks have also been overshadowed by the fast-moving crisis over the new coronavirus strain found by London.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Amid reports the new strain might spread more quickly than previous ones, 40 countries in Europe and around the world cut travel links to Britain.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The EU is scrambling to come up with a coordinated response after cross-channel traffic was left snarled as France shut down entry for passengers and goods.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Ambassadors from the bloc's 27 members were seeking to hammer out a joint plan to allow cargo to start moving again and EU nationals to return home.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Von der Leyen's Commission has recommended that blanket bans be discontinued in order to allow essential passenger travel and freight shipments to resume.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But Germany and Ireland have already renewed their precautionary bans and France is in talks with London over instituting virus tests for truck drivers.</p>
<p class="bodytext">The EU has rejected the latest UK offer on fishing but is ready to pursue a post-Brexit trade deal even beyond the end of the year, diplomats said on Tuesday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">According to sources in a meeting of ambassadors, EU negotiator Michel Barnier can not guarantee there will be a deal but Brussels' "door will remain open" even after Britain leaves the single market.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"EU negotiators are in a last push now to make progress and to clinch a deal acceptable for both sides," Barnier said, according to a European diplomat, in an account matched by two others.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"The EU will not close its door to the UK and remains ready to negotiate even beyond January 1".</p>.<p class="bodytext">According to the diplomats, Britain had suggested EU access to UK fish stocks be reduced by 35 per cent, phased in over three years. The EU had suggested a level 25 per cent, and over six years.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But, crucially, the British offer did not include "pelagic fish" -- those that swim freely away from coasts or the seabed. If these fish are included the EU would lose 60 per cent of its current access, they said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">This marked a step too far for member states with northern fishing fleets, like France, Denmark and the Netherlands.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"Progress has been made. Most issues are preliminarily closed or close to being agreed," one diplomat said, recounting Barnier's briefing to EU ambassadors.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"However, differences on fisheries remain difficult to bridge. Unfortunately, the UK is not moving enough yet to clinch a fair deal on fisheries."</p>.<p class="bodytext">Before heading into the closed door meeting, Barnier told reporters: "We are really in the crucial moment, and we are giving it the final push.</p>.<p class="bodytext">"In 10 days the UK will leave the single market and I will continue to work, in total transparency with the member states and the parliament."</p>.<p class="bodytext">If the talks between Barnier and his UK counterpart David Frost fail to reach a breakthrough in the coming days, the UK will leave without a follow-on trade deal.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Tariffs would be reimposed on cross-Channel trade in food and goods, exacerbating the economic shock of a return to a border after 47 years of integration.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But the talks are deadlocked over how to ensure fair trade rules are respected in the future and, especially, over how to assign fishing rights in UK waters.</p>.<p class="bodytext">On Monday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen held a crisis call to discuss the Brexit talks but failed to make a breakthrough.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The eleventh-hour talks have also been overshadowed by the fast-moving crisis over the new coronavirus strain found by London.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Amid reports the new strain might spread more quickly than previous ones, 40 countries in Europe and around the world cut travel links to Britain.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The EU is scrambling to come up with a coordinated response after cross-channel traffic was left snarled as France shut down entry for passengers and goods.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Ambassadors from the bloc's 27 members were seeking to hammer out a joint plan to allow cargo to start moving again and EU nationals to return home.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Von der Leyen's Commission has recommended that blanket bans be discontinued in order to allow essential passenger travel and freight shipments to resume.</p>.<p class="bodytext">But Germany and Ireland have already renewed their precautionary bans and France is in talks with London over instituting virus tests for truck drivers.</p>