The European Union’s lead negotiator Michel Barnier will update diplomats from the 27 member states on Monday as talks continued on a post-Brexit trade deal with the UK.
The UK and EU refused to set a new deadline following a decision to continue discussions, but time is tight for a deal to be reached and approved by the end of the month when current arrangements expire.
There was fresh hope on the prospect of a deal after Boris Johnson and Europe’s top official Ursula von der Leyen agreed to “go the extra mile” and continue discussions beyond Sunday’s initial deadline.
‼️#Brexit update: EU Chief negotiator @MichelBarnier will brief EU Ambassadors tomorrow at 8.30am on the state of play of EU-UK negotiations following today’s phone call between President @vonderleyen and PM @BorisJohnson. Ambassadors will then review the situation.#COREPER 🇪🇺🇬🇧
— Sebastian Fischer (@SFischer_EU) December 13, 2020
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Mr Barnier will set out the state of play to ambassadors from the EU’s member states in Brussels on Monday morning.
The ongoing talks has fuelled speculation that Parliament may be forced to sit over the festive period to vote on any agreement.
Former UK chief whip Mark Harper, speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Westminster Hour, said: “It depends on when it is concluded, but many of us are fully anticipating it’s entirely possible we might be returning to Parliament between Christmas and New Year to scrutinise this and vote it through if a deal is done.”
Shadow business secretary Ed Miliband told BBC One’s Andrew Marr Show that Labour was “minded” to vote for a deal in a sign that, should consensus be reached in Brussels, the terms of any future relationship with Britain’s largest trading partner would face little opposition in Parliament.
The UK Prime Minister and European Commission president Mrs von der Leyen – who spoke for 20 minutes on the phone in a conversation described as “perfectly cordial” by sources – agreed to continue trying to find a compromise on the outstanding blockages.
Mr Johnson, speaking after the call, said the UK would not be walking away from the negotiating table and that “where there is life, there is hope”.
But the Conservative leader continued to warn that a no-deal outcome was still the most likely scenario.
He said the country should get ready for the breakdown of talks, resulting in tariffs under World Trade Organisation (WTO) terms from January 1 – a move that is predicted to cost jobs, cause food prices to rise and wipe £45 billion off the economy next year.
“The most likely thing now is, of course, that we have to get ready for WTO terms, Australia terms,” the Prime Minister said.
But the agreement to continue talking beyond the Sunday deadline set by Mr Johnson and Mrs von der Leyen does indicate that progress could still be made.
The pair agreed to “keep going for as long as they still think a deal is possible”, a UK source said.
A joint statement issued by the two leaders said: “Our negotiating teams have been working day and night over recent days.
“And 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.”
After updating the Cabinet on his talks with the commission chief, Mr Johnson told reporters the UK would be “as creative as we possibly can” in search of an agreement but stressed that there were fundamentals that could not be compromised, such as “being able to control our laws, control our fisheries”.
“I think our friends get it, and we remain willing to talk and will continue to do so,” he added.
The major sticking points in the negotiations – as they have been for months – are on fishing rights and the “level playing field” which Brussels wants to prevent unfair competition from the UK undercutting EU standards and state subsidy rules.
