UK’s Boris Johnson and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen fail to break Brexit deadlock, with more talks planned
- Both sides continue to have ‘significant differences’ on several critical issues that have long stalled negotiations, a joint statement said
- A deal is seen as essential to avoid deep trade disruption to economies already damaged by the coronavirus pandemic
Britain and the European Union will reconvene post-Brexit trade negotiations in Brussels on Sunday after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen held inconclusive talks, as time runs short to seal a deal.
The pair held the crunch Saturday afternoon phone call, which reportedly lasted around an hour, with pressure intensifying to finalise an agreement ahead of the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31.
The high-level political intervention followed UK and European Union envoys pausing the last-ditch talks late Friday.
Both sides continue to have “significant differences” on several critical issues that have long stalled negotiations, a joint statement said.
“Whilst recognising the seriousness of these differences, we agreed that a further effort should be undertaken by our negotiating teams to assess whether they can be resolved,” Johnson and von der Leyen said in a statement following their conversation.
“We are therefore instructing our chief negotiators to reconvene tomorrow in Brussels. We will speak again on Monday evening.”