Do not underestimate no-deal Brexit, EU's Barnier warns

STRASBOURG (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.”