Do not underestimate no-deal Brexit, EU's Barnier warns
STRASBOURG, Sept 18 (Reuters) - The European Union's chief Brexit negotiator warned on Wednesday not to underestimate the consequences of any no-deal Brexit and said issues raised by Britain's exit from the EU would still need addressing before a future relationship could be agreed.
"I advise everyone not to underestimate the consequences, clearly for the United Kingdom first of all but also for us, of the absence of a deal," the European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said on Wednesday.
Barnier told lawmakers in European Parliament that a divorce deal, dealing with citizens rights and the Irish border, was a precursor to an agreement on a future economic relationship between Britain and the EU.
"If the United Kingdom leaves without a deal, I want to remind you that all these questions will not just disappear... Some three years after the Brexit referendum we should not be pretending to negotiate." (Reporting by Philip Blenkinsop, Editing by Gabriela Baczynska)