Leaders concede big gaps remain in post Brexit talks

The UK and the European Union provided sober updates yesterday on the state of postBrexit trade discussions two weeks before a potentially chaotic split.

While Ursula von der Leyen, president of t he European Union’s executive c ommission, noted “substantial progress on many issues”, she voiced concerns about the discussions taking place around fishing rights. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also warned that that a no- deal outcome seemed “very likely”.

The two spoke yesterday evening, their latest in a series of conversations in the past couple of weeks aimed at unclogging the talks that have moved at a snail’s pace ever since the UK left the EU on January 31.

The UK s t i l l re mains withi n t he EU’S tariff-free single market and customs union until December 31. A failure to reach a post

Brexit deal would likely lead to chaos on the borders at the st art of 2021 as t ariffs and other impediments to trade are enacted by both sides.

The talks have got bogged down on three main issues – the EU’S access to UK fishing waters, the level playing field to ensure fair competition bet ween businesses and the governance of any deal.

Following their latest conversation, von der Leyen warned that bridging big differences, in particular on fi sheries, “will be very challenging”. Negotiations, she added, would continue today.

According to a statement from Johnson’s office at 10 Downing Street, the prime minister stressed that “time was very short” and that it “now looked very likely that agreement would not be reached unless the EU position changed substantially”.