<p>Britain's top minister overseeing Brexit talks said on Friday he was confident a free trade deal would be clinched with the European Union as there had been a distinct change of tone from the bloc in recent weeks allowing progress to be made.</p>.<p>The United Kingdom left the EU on January 31 but the main terms of its membership remain in place - including being in the EU customs union and single market - during a transition period until the end of this year, during which time both sides hope to negotiate a new free trade accord.</p>.<p>"I'm confident that there will be a deal, I think there has been a welcome change in tone over the last few weeks," Michael Gove told reporters in Portadown in the British province of Northern Ireland.</p>.<p>"The omens are good for a deal. Now of course there is some tough talking to do," Gove said. "I believe that there will be a successful negotiated outcome."</p>.<p>While Britain has always said it believed a deal was possible, the tenor of the comments from Gove - one of the most senior Brexit supporters in Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government - was distinctly more positive than in recent months.</p>.<p>In late May, for example, Gove was demanding that the EU break the impasse in talks.</p>.<p>Failure to reach a deal would convulse global trade just as the world comes to terms with the economic destruction sown by the novel coronavirus.</p>.<p>The EU is willing to compromise by softening its demand that Britain heed the bloc's rules on state aid in the future, diplomatic sources told Reuters earlier this month.</p>.<p>They said Brussels could go for a compromise entailing a dispute-settling mechanism on any state aid granted by the UK to its companies in the future, rather than obliging London to follow the bloc’s own fair-competition rules from the outset.</p>.<p>"The relationship that we have with the European Union is constructive, pragmatic and impressive," Gove said, adding that he thought a deal could be done though there was more work to do.</p>.<p>Britain and the EU have planned more trade negotiations all the way until Oct. 2, less than a fortnight before a summit where the bloc hopes to endorse any agreement with London. </p>
<p>Britain's top minister overseeing Brexit talks said on Friday he was confident a free trade deal would be clinched with the European Union as there had been a distinct change of tone from the bloc in recent weeks allowing progress to be made.</p>.<p>The United Kingdom left the EU on January 31 but the main terms of its membership remain in place - including being in the EU customs union and single market - during a transition period until the end of this year, during which time both sides hope to negotiate a new free trade accord.</p>.<p>"I'm confident that there will be a deal, I think there has been a welcome change in tone over the last few weeks," Michael Gove told reporters in Portadown in the British province of Northern Ireland.</p>.<p>"The omens are good for a deal. Now of course there is some tough talking to do," Gove said. "I believe that there will be a successful negotiated outcome."</p>.<p>While Britain has always said it believed a deal was possible, the tenor of the comments from Gove - one of the most senior Brexit supporters in Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government - was distinctly more positive than in recent months.</p>.<p>In late May, for example, Gove was demanding that the EU break the impasse in talks.</p>.<p>Failure to reach a deal would convulse global trade just as the world comes to terms with the economic destruction sown by the novel coronavirus.</p>.<p>The EU is willing to compromise by softening its demand that Britain heed the bloc's rules on state aid in the future, diplomatic sources told Reuters earlier this month.</p>.<p>They said Brussels could go for a compromise entailing a dispute-settling mechanism on any state aid granted by the UK to its companies in the future, rather than obliging London to follow the bloc’s own fair-competition rules from the outset.</p>.<p>"The relationship that we have with the European Union is constructive, pragmatic and impressive," Gove said, adding that he thought a deal could be done though there was more work to do.</p>.<p>Britain and the EU have planned more trade negotiations all the way until Oct. 2, less than a fortnight before a summit where the bloc hopes to endorse any agreement with London. </p>