Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has told the BBC that the EU will have greater leverage in negotiations over a future trade deal with the UK, ahead of a meeting with chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier in Dublin.
Speaking to the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg, Varadkar talked down the prospect of the UK getting a “piecemeal” deal with the bloc.
Varadkar said: "When I hear people talk about piecemeal, it sounds a bit like cake and eat.
"That isn't something that will fly in Europe.”
The Irish premier added: “The European Union is a union of 27 member states. The UK is only one country. And we have a population and a market of 450 million people.
"The UK, it's about 60 [million]. So if these were two teams up against each other playing football, who do you think has the stronger team?”
Brexit secretary Stephen Barclay and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen are both known to favour a “zero tariff, zero quota” free-trade agreement, but like von der Leyen, Varadkar has doubts over the 11-month negotiating window leading up to the December 31 cut-off point for the Brexit transition period.
Varadkar said that it would be “difficult” to finalise a comprehensive trade deal in such a short time, adding that an extension may be needed.
However, the Taoiseach reassured that the EU "won't be dragging [its] feet", adding that he would work “night and day” to try to finalise negotiations between now and the end of December.
For a trade deal to be agreed, Varadkar has called for a level playing field between the UK and EU, meaning that a "common set of minimum standards" must be agreed to ensure that the UK will not undercut the bloc.
Varadkar also poured cold water on UK prime minister Boris Johnson's claims that there will not need to be checks on some goods going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland, saying it is "black-and-white" that this will be the case under new customs arrangements on the island of Ireland post-Brexit.
