Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said on Friday that, if the UK leaves the European Union without a deal, it is bad news for all concerned.

Speaking alongside his German counterpart, Heiko Maas, Coveney also warned the European Union against overconfidence. He downplayed suggestions that leaving without a deal could prove so problematic for the UK that it would be forced back into talks with the EU to rectify the situation in short order, with an even weaker hand than at present. 

"Anybody who thinks no deal now is in the EU's strategic interests because in six or 12 months time, when we start talking to the UK about putting in place a new agreement, that somehow the EU's hand will be strengthened, I don't think that shows an understanding of a British mindset," Coveney told a news conference in Berlin. 

"I think the United Kingdom will try and make whatever the outcome is in the next few days and weeks work, whether it's a deal or no deal and so all of the focus now should be on getting a deal done that both sides can live with and work with."

Nominally, the latest deadline to reach an accord is the end of the weekend — but numerous deadlines have come and gone already and both sides are keen to hint that they won't give up until the very last. At present, the transition period during which time the UK is to all intents and purposes still a fully-fledged member of the EU's single market and customs union is set to expire at the end of the calendar year.

Germany still hopeful

Germany retains a glimmer of hope that a Brexit deal is "still possible," despite an agreement appearing less likely with every day that passes.

"We believe that an agreement is difficult but still possible," German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said ahead of the meeting with Coveney. "We will keep negotiating ... as long as a crack of the window is open."

"We want an agreement, but of course one that is sensible," Maas said, adding that the EU was also "prepared for the case that there is no agreement."

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday warned that "from where I stand now, ... it is looking very, very likely" that the UK would fail to strike an accord with the EU in time, comments that instantly hit the pound's value on currency markets.

jsi/msh (AFP, Reuters)