12 December 2020 01:28 am
Britain is likely to leave the European Union without a trade deal in just under three weeks’ time, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday. Britain quit the EU in January but remains an informal member until Dec. 31 - the end of a transition period during which it has remained in the EU single market and customs union.
Both sides say they want to agree arrangements to cover nearly $1 trillion in annual trade, but talks are at an impasse. European Commission chief von der Leyen told EU leaders that a no-deal was more likely than a deal, an official said.
“It’s looking very, very likely we’ll have to go for a solution that I think will be wonderful for the UK, we’ll be able to do exactly what we want from January 1, it will obviously be different from what we set out to achieve,” Johnson told reporters.“If there’s a big offer, a big change in what they’re saying then I must say that I’m yet to see it,”
Johnson said. Johnson and von der Leyen have given negotiators until Sunday evening to break the impasse at talks that are deadlocked over fishing rights and EU demands for Britain to face consequences if in the future it diverges from the bloc’s rules.
LONDON/BRUSSELS (Reuters),
11 Dec, 2020