British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, spent more than an hour talking by telephone about the paused Brexit negotiations. Von der Leyen said in a short press moment after the conversation that the negotiators will meet again on Sunday.
She went on to speak of “a decisive phase”. Last night, negotiators Michel Barnier (EU) and David Frost (United Kingdom) took a break after not agreeing on the terms of a trade deal.
On Monday evening, Johnson and Von der Leyen will consult again themselves, they further said in a joint statement. There are still “significant differences” between the UK and the EU when it comes to fair competition, governance and fishing, say the two. It was already clear that the negotiations in these areas are in a deadlock.
Johnson and Von der Leyen emphasize that no deal is possible if the points of contention are not resolved.
Time pressure
There is a lot of time pressure on the talks, because an agreement must be reached before 1 January. From that date, the United Kingdom is no longer a member of the European Union. Even if a deal is reached in the short term, there is hardly any time for parliament to approve it or not.
If there is no deal, both parties must abide by the trade rules of the World Trade Organization WTO. This means, among other things, that import duties will be imposed on many products.