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		</div><p>Britain has been warned it faces a “tough road ahead” in post-Brexit trade talks as European ministers gather in Brussels to prepare to sign off on their red lines.</p>
<p>The EU General Affairs Council is meeting to approve the bloc’s mandate for negotiations with the UK – which are set to start next week.</p>
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<p>Meanwhile, in the UK, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will chair a meeting of senior ministers on his Brexit committee ahead of the publication of the UK’s negotiating position on Thursday.</p>
<blockquote><p>The time pressure is immense, the interests are huge &#8211; it&#8217;s a very complicated treaty &#8211; so it will be very hard work. A tough road ahead</p></blockquote>
<p>Dutch foreign minister Stef Blok, arriving at the meeting in Brussels, warned of the “immense” time pressure facing both sides as they attempt to agree a future trading relationship.</p>
<p>“The past has shown that we managed to do good work as a united European Union with regard to the Withdrawal Agreement, so that gives me hope for the negotiations to come,” he told reporters.</p>
<p>“But the time pressure is immense, the interests are huge – it’s a very complicated treaty – so it will be very hard work. A tough road ahead.”</p>
<p>Tánaiste Simon Coveney said the EU was making a “generous and fair” offer to the UK, but warned Mr Johnson not to renege on the commitments made in the Withdrawal Agreement.</p>
<p>He said: “Michel Barnier and the Irish Government are at one on this: the Withdrawal Agreement involves significant commitments in the context of Northern Ireland through the Irish protocol that both the EU and the UK need to follow through on.</p>
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<p>“If that doesn’t happen, then I think it will damage significantly the prospects of being able to get even a bare-bones trade agreement along with a number of other things that need to be done in place by the end of the year.”</p>
<p>His comments follow reports that Mr Johnson has ordered his Brexit team to find ways to “get around” the Northern Ireland protocol which aims to avoid the introduction of a hard border on the island of Ireland.</p>
<p>Mr Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, wrote on Twitter: “We will keep a very close eye on the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement – this will be key for building a solid future partnership with the UK.”</p>
<p> ;</p>
<p>Croatia’s European Affairs minister, Andreja Metelko-Zgombic, said the EU would be willing to offer a “substantial” and “ambitious” partnership in post-Brexit trade talks with the UK.</p>
<p>“Today’s General Affairs Council will adopt a mandate for the future relationship with the UK – and from our side we are really willing to offer a substantial, ambitious, balanced and wide-ranging partnership,” she said.</p>
<p>The EU’s negotiating mandate will be published later on Tuesday.</p>
<p>British ministers are expected to seek a Canada-style agreement with zero tariffs, a proposal Mr Johnson and his Europe adviser, David Frost, have set out in speeches in recent weeks.</p>
<p>But the push for a Canada-style deal could set up a clash with the EU after Mr Barnier ruled out such an agreement.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">ðªðºð®ðª Ahead of the Council today, good to touch base with <a href="https://twitter.com/simoncoveney?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@simoncoveney</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/HMcEntee?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HMcEntee</a> and team. We will keep a very close eye on the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement &#8211; this will be key for building a solid future partnership with the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UK?src=hash&;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UK</a>. <a href="https://t.co/8zqaLbYHWI">pic.twitter.com/8zqaLbYHWI</a></p>
<p>&mdash; Michel Barnier (@MichelBarnier) <a href="https://twitter.com/MichelBarnier/status/1232231696562606080?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 25, 2020</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>He has previously said the UK is too close in proximity to be permitted to compete with the other 27 member states on such terms.</p>
<p>Mr Johnson&#8217;s official spokesman, asked about the trade talks on Monday, said: “The UK’s primary objective in the negotiations is to ensure that we restore our economic and political independence on January 1 2021.”</p>
<p>Mr Frost and his team will head to Brussels for the first round of negotiations on March 2.</p>
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<p>One of the flashpoints expected with the forthcoming publication of the EU’s negotiation mandate is on fishing, with leading member states speaking regularly about wanting continued access to UK waters.</p>
<p>Mr Johnson used a speech in Greenwich earlier this month to announce that, once free of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy, “British fishing grounds are first and foremost for British boats”.</p>
<p>But French Europe minister Amelie de Montchalin signalled that fishing would be a hotly contested topic when the two negotiating teams come to spar in London and Brussels over the coming months.</p>
<p>“The fishermen have the right to be protected; they know very well that if we sign a bad deal they will lose enormously,” she told TV station France 2.</p>
<p>A leaked draft of the EU negotiation mandate last week also included a stipulation that Britain should “return unlawfully removed cultural objects to their countries of origin”.</p>
<p>The passage is thought to refer to the Elgin Marbles – ancient Greek sculptures brought to Britain more than 200 years ago and now on display in the British Museum.</p>
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<p>Greece has been vocal about demanding the return of the marble sculptures, which once adorned the Greek Parthenon temple, to Athens.</p>
<p>Downing Street has insisted that the future of the marbles is “not up for discussion as part of our trade negotiations”.</p>
<p>The PM is expected to meet Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz at Number 10 on Tuesday as part of his diplomatic efforts with EU leaders before talks commence.</p>
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