The EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has urged the UK to use the little time that remains to clinch a post-Brexit deal
Mr Barnier made the comments with the British government refusing to restart talks until Brussels signals willingness to make concessions.
The plea from Mr Barnier came after a phone call with his UK counterpart David Frost, who last week announced that talks were over after EU leaders ordered Britain to make a move.
"My message: we should be making the most out of the little time left. Our door remains open," Mr Barnier tweeted after the call.
The conversation was the second day running that the men sought to unblock the talks after London rejected Brussels' first outreach yesterday.
Mr Frost called the latest phone call "a constructive discussion", but said "the situation remained as yesterday, and they will remain in contact."
EU official says that after the phone call between @MichelBarnier and @DavidGHFrost this afternoon, both men will "remain in contact". However, no word yet as to whether or not negotiations will resume later this week...https://t.co/yy1Jwqm8qL
— Tony Connelly (@tconnellyRTE) October 20, 2020
The British government had warned Mr Barnier not to come to London this week to continue trade talks until Brussels makes a "fundamental change" in its negotiating stance.
London wants the EU side to confirm that both sides will have to make compromises to find a trade agreement, not just the UK, and wants to start work on a detailed text.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson redelivered that message to his Greek counterpart Kyriakos Mitsotakis in a phone call today, insisting that the EU had "effectively ended" negotiations "by stating they did not want to change their negotiating position", a spokesman said.
Separately, Mr Johnson's spokesman told reporters that Mr Frost needs to see "that this is a genuine negotiation rather than one side being expected to make all of the moves.
"We have said that our door is ajar to resume talks but that can only happen if the EU fundamentally change their approach" to accept that movement needs to come from their side "as well as the UK", he said.
France's European Affairs minister Clement Beaune, however, countered that the EU "will not have a new approach" and "must not give in to any bullying tactics".
"A 'no deal' is more painful for the British than the Europeans," Mr Beaune told the National Assembly's European Affairs Committee.
Brussels has promised that it is ready to move on to "legal texts" and discuss the "structure" of the dialogue, but has not moved on its fair competition rules or fish quotas.
Nevertheless, while London insists that trade negotiations are on hold, both sides remain in close daily contact, and European sources expect full talks to resume shortly.
Britain, which left the EU in January but remains bound by most of the bloc's rules until a transition period ends on 31 December, accused Brussels of stalling negotiations.
An EU summit last week infuriated London when European leaders said the British side must make further compromises.
If no deal is found and implemented before the end of the year, Britain will end up trading with the EU on bare bones WTO regulations, a massive disruption to cross-Channel business.
UK govt suffers defeat by House of Lords over Brexit bill
The upper chamber of the UK parliament has inflicted a symbolic defeat on the government over Brexit legislation.
The Internal Market Bill is designed to regulate trade between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland after Brexit.
But it unilaterally rewrites the divorce treaty agreed between the UK and the EU last year.
The bill has already passed the House of Commons but in the House of Lords, peers including Anglican archbishops voted by a majority of 226 to express their "regret" over its treaty-breaching provisions.
While the vote did not alter the bill's language, it sets the stage for detailed scrutiny by the Lords in the coming weeks.
Many want to strip out those elements, triggering a legislative tussle with the Commons before the bill can become law.
Meanwhile, the Joint Committee on European Union Affairs will discuss Brexit with members of the House of Lords at a meeting in Leinster House tomorrow morning.
The meeting of TDs and Senators is taking place with a delegation from the House of Lords EU Select Committee, including its chair, Charles Hay, joining remotely.
Speaking before the meeting, chair of the Oireachtas Committee on EU Affairs, Joe McHugh said: "The Members of the Oireachtas Committee welcome this opportunity to engage with members of the Houses of Lords EU Select Committee to discuss Brexit, the progress of the Internal Market Bill and inter-parliamentary relations post-Brexit."
