欧盟称英国脱欧协议“触手可及”但仍未完成

The European Union\'s Brexit negotiator said Wednesday that an agreement on Britain\'s exit ``is within reach\'\' if negotiations make progress ahead of a summit next week.

Michel Barnier said that up to 85 percent of the work on a deal is done but that the issue remains of how to ensure a transparent border on the island of Ireland.

He offered suggestions to make sure border checks are be kept to a minimum. Yet he also warned that some British proposals as they stood would give the U.K. too much of a competitive trade advantage.

With good will from both sides, he said, "agreement is within reach if we have the negotiations on the 17th of October," when Theresa May will meet her 27 counterparts in Brussels.

EU Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos told reporters Wednesday that Barnier and his team "are working day and night to reach a deal."

Britain is to leave the EU on March 29 and the possibility of there being no deal on future relations – particularly trade – is worrying businesses and politicians.

As part of the EU, Britain benefits from seamless trade with the bloc, its biggest trading partner. And the question is how to let Britain exit the EU without too much disruption to trade and without reinstalling a hard border between the Republic of Ireland and Britain\'s Northern Ireland.

欧盟谈判代表巴尼耶表示，协议中高达85％的部分已经完成，但如何确保爱尔兰边境透明的问题仍悬而未决。

他建议确保将边境检查站保持在最低限度。不过他也警告说，英国的一些现行提议将给英国带来太大的贸易竞争优势。

他说，双方都有良好的意愿，“如果我们在十月十七日进行谈判，协议将触手可及”。英国首相梅将于那时到布鲁塞尔参加与其他27名首脑的峰会。

欧盟委员会委员阿夫拉莫普洛斯周三告诉记者，巴尼耶和他的团队“正在为达成协议日夜工作。”

英国将于明年3月29日脱离欧盟，而双方对未来的关系，尤其是贸易方面 ，无法达成协议的可能性令企业和政界人士担忧。

作为欧盟的一部分，英国与欧盟这个最大的贸易伙伴之间的贸易毫无障碍。问题是如何让英国退出欧盟的同时不d对其贸易造成太大干扰，也不会在爱尔兰共和国与英国的北爱尔兰之间重新建立一个硬边界。