The trade negotiations between the EU and the UK will be extended past the self-imposed Sunday deadline.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have said that the negotiations will “go the extra mile” in order to try and secure a deal.
Ms von der Leyen said: “Despite the exhaustion after almost a year of negotiations, despite the fact that deadlines have been missed over and over, we think it is responsible at this point to go the extra mile.”
Boris Johnson, however, did warn that: “The most likely thing now is, of course, that we have to get ready for WTO terms.
“As far as I can see, there are some serious and very difficult issues that currently separate the UK from EU and the best thing to do now for everybody … [is to] get ready to trade on WTO terms.”
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab had said last week that the talks would not go past Sunday.
The talks seemingly reached a standstill last week, with major differences still remaining between the two sides.
Last week, a Government spokesperson said in a statement that there had been “a frank discussion about the significant obstacles which remain in the negotiations”.
“Very large gaps remain between the two sides and it is still unclear whether these can be bridged.”
Ursula von der Leyen also tweeted out a similar statement from the EU last week. She wrote: “We had a lively & interesting discussion on the state of play on outstanding issues. We understand each other’s positions. They remain far apart. The teams should immediately reconvene to try to resolve these issues. We will come to a decision by the end of the weekend.[1]”
As things currently stand, the UK will be exiting the transition period at 11pm on 31st December.
We had a lively & interesting discussion on the state of play on outstanding issues.
We understand each other’s positions. They remain far apart.
The teams should immediately reconvene to try to resolve these issues. We will come to a decision by the end of the weekend. pic.twitter.com/jG0Mfg35YX
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) December 9, 2020