European businesses are concerned about the lack of progress in the ongoing negotiations between Britain and the European Union and warning of a no-deal Brexit.
"We are sleepwalking into a precipice," Markus Bayrer, director general of the employers' association Business Europe, said in a statement published early on Monday.
Business Europe expressed concern regarding the complexity of issues that still needed to be discussed in the little time that was left and called on both sides to find compromise.
"Going from full market integration to a no-deal scenario would have devastating consequences for companies that are already struggling with the impact of Covid-19," Bayrer said.
The last round of Brexit talks is scheduled for Tuesday.
Britain left the EU at the beginning of the year but still belongs to the EU single market and customs union until the end of a transition phase in three months.
If both sides agree on a deal to avoid tariffs and other barriers, it would still have to be ratified by the European parliament, the British parliament and all EU members.
Negotiations have become increasingly difficult, especially after the British parliament approved legislation to override a key provision in Britain's EU withdrawal agreement regarding the Irish border.
Australian Associated Press
