Gudlaugur Thor Thordarson is confident about a huge desire for countries around the world to continue trading with an “isolated” Britain.
He said: “You’re the fifth largest economy in the world. Everyone wants to sell you goods and services. It’s just as simple as that.
“It’s very important that we will find a solution as soon as possible because it’s very important that we will not see – I say the same thing to both sides – it’s very important that we will not see any technical or trade restrictions now in Europe.”
He added that: “Everyone would lose,” when trade restrictions come into force. Thordarson called for a quick resolution to trade talks between the EU and the UK.
The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, meanwhile insisted that talks about a EU-UK trade deal cannot begin until Britain pays a €100 billion “divorce bill”.
During an interview on BBC Radio Four’s Today programme, Thordarson said Britiain should follow the “Norway model” and rejoin the European Free Trade Assocation (EFTA), which is composed of Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.
EFTA members are not members of the EU but have access to the single market in return for making payments to Brussels.