UK Prime Minister and EU Commission President have said that conditions for finalising a post-Brexit UK-EU trade deal are ‘not there’.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke on Monday afternoon after negotiators carried out a further effort to try and find a breakthrough over the weekend.
In a joint statement on Monday evening, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said;
“As agreed on Saturday, we took stock today of the ongoing negotiations. We agreed that the conditions for finalizing an agreement are not there due to the remaining significant differences on three critical issues: level playing field, governance and fisheries.
“We asked our Chief Negotiators and their teams to prepare an overview of the remaining differences to be discussed in a physical meeting in Brussels in the coming days.”
While the UK left the European Union on January 31 this year, it is currently in a transition period in which it remains part of some EU institutions including the single market and customs union.
The transition period is set to end on 31 December 2020 – if no deal is agreed and ratified by both sides by this point, the UK will have to trade with the EU on World Trade Organization terms.
