The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen has said that it will not be possible to sort out every aspect of Britain’s future relationship with the EU before the current deadline of the end of December 2020.
Britain is still in the European Union, but is due to leave at the end of this month once the withdrawal agreement is ratified by Parliament. After this point, the UK will move into a transition period whereby it is no longer a member of the EU but will continue to be subject to EU rules and be part of the single market and customs union. At this stage, Britain will negotiate with the EU its future relationship with the bloc.
However, Ms von der Leyen echoed the words of other EU leaders on Wednesday who have previously warned that 11 months is not long enough in order to negotiate a full free trade deal between the two parties. Speaking at the London School of Economics, she said;
“Without an extension of the transition period beyond 2020, you cannot expect to agree on every single aspect of our new partnership.
“We will have to prioritise.”
Boris Johnson has previously ruled out extended the transition period beyond December 31.
Photo Credit: European Parliament via Flickr under licence (CC BY 2.0)
