BERLIN (Reuters) – The European Union and Britain need to accelerate talks on a future trade deal since it was impossible to rule out there being insufficient progress in the talks, leading to a no-deal outcome, European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said on Monday.

“There are many outstanding issues. Progress on a number of key EU asks so far is not sufficient. So we would need to intensify negotiations substantially if we are to reach a successful outcome,” Dombrovskis told a news conference after a meeting of trade ministers in Berlin.

“The alternative of a no-deal Brexit is not appealing, but we cannot exclude it.”

(Reporting by Michael Nienaber and Philip Blenkinsop, editing by Thomas Escritt)

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