U.K., EU will keep trying on post-Brexit trade deal

LONDON — The European Union and the United Kingdom decided Saturday to press on with negotiating a post-Brexit trade deal, with all three key issues still unresolved ahead of a year-end cutoff.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said after a phone call that their negotiators will return to the table Sunday even though fundamental differences between the two sides remain over the rules for fair competition, legal oversight of the deal and fishing rights for EU trawlers in U.K. waters.

While the U.K. left the EU on Jan. 31, it remains in the bloc’s tariff-free single market and customs union through Dec. 31. Reaching a trade deal by then would ensure that there are no tariffs and trade quotas on goods exported or imported by the two sides, although there would still be technical costs, partly associated with customs checks and nontariff barriers on services.

The talks would surely have collapsed by now were the interests and economic costs at stake not so massive. But because the EU is an economic power of 450 million people and Britain has major diplomatic and security interests beyond its own commercial might, the two sides want to explore every last chance to get a deal before they become acrimonious rivals.

The two leaders noted that progress has been achieved in many areas but that divisions remain on fishing rights, the “level playing field” — the standards the U.K. must meet to export into the bloc — and resolution of future disputes.

An EU source said the fair competition rules that the U.K. should meet before it can export tariff-free into the 27-nation bloc were still a major stumbling block.

Ursula von der Leyen