Running out of time for post-Brexit trade talks

European Union and British negotiators on Sunday entered potentially the final attempt to strike a deal over post-Brexit trade ties, even though “significant differences remain” on three essential points.

With less than four weeks remaining before the Jan. 1 cutoff day, the negotiators might have less than 48 hours to clinch a breakthrough because the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will assess late Monday if there is any point in continuing.

While the UK left the EU on Jan. 31, it remains within the bloc’s tarifffree single market and customs union through Dec. 31. Reaching a trade deal by then would ensure 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 non-tariff barriers on services.

Britain’s main negotiator, David Frost, arrived on a high-speed Eurostar train Sunday and said “we are going to see what happens,” amid an ever gloomier outlook that a breakthrough could be achieved on all outstanding points.

Foreign Minister Simon Coveney of Ireland, which stands to lose the most in case of a no-deal exit, told RTE broadcaster “we’re in a difficult place as we try to close it out.”

Differences between the two sides remain over the standards the UK must meet to export into the bloc, how future disputes are resolved and fishing rights for EU trawlers in UK waters.