Deadline for deal challenged

The European Union could struggle to negotiate a trade deal with Britain within the 11-month deadline set down by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the new head of the European Commission has warned.

Ursula von der Leyen, who replaced Jean-Claude Juncker at the start of the month, said yesterday she had ‘‘serious concern’’ over the limited time available for the negotiations.

She also reiterated that there would be ‘‘barriers’’ to trade between the United Kingdom and the EU at the end of the transition period unless Johnson walked away from his pledge not to follow European regulations after Brexit.

Von der Leyen heads the EU institution responsible for Brexit talks and negotiating trade deals on behalf of member countries. Such trade pacts routinely take years to complete, and businesses fear that the UK could face a new ‘‘no-deal’’ Brexit scenario at the start of 2021 if questions about whether tariff-free trade with the country’s biggest trading partner remain unanswered.

In an interview with French newspaper Les Echos, Von der

European Commission president

Leyen said it was important that both sides kept their options open.

‘‘It seems to me that on both sides, we must ask ourselves seriously if all these negotiations are feasible in such a short time.’’

After the UK officially leaves the EU on January 31, it will stay in the customs union and single market until the end of the year. There is an option to extend the transition period for two years, but this would have to be agreed by July 1. Johnson has said that he will not agree to such an extension.

Should an agreement not be reached by the end of next year, Britain would trade with the EU on World Trade Organisation terms – with some of the potential disruption likely in a no-deal Brexit scenario.

Von der Leyen said the risks for both sides meant that a transition period extension could not be ruled out.

‘‘I think it would be reasonable to take stock in the middle of the year and if necessary, agree on an extension to the transition period,’’ she said

Johnson won a solid parliamentary majority in an election earlier this month, which helped him push a Brexit withdrawal deal through the House of Commons. The Brexit bill contained amendments that bar the British government from extending the transition period beyond 2020.

‘‘We must ask ourselves seriously if all these negotiations are feasible in such a short time.’’ Ursula von der Leyen,