Boris Johnson warns ‘very likely’ Brexit deal will not be made unless EU changes stance

Prime Minister Boris Johnson will speak to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen 
John Sibley/PA Wire
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Boris Johnson has warned that it is now “very likely” a Brexit deal would not be made unless the EU changes its stance.

The Prime Minister told European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen during a phone call on Thursday evening that there was  “little time” left for a trade agreement.

A Downing Street spokesperson said the pair had agreed to “remain in close contact” following the call which happened at around 7pm tonight.

They said: "The Prime Minister underlined the negotiations were now in a serious situation. Time was very short and it now looked very likely that agreement would not be reached unless the EU position changed substantially.

“He said that we were making every effort to accommodate reasonable EU requests on the level playing field, but even though the gap had narrowed some fundamental areas remained difficult.

“On fisheries he stressed that the UK could not accept a situation where it was the only sovereign country in the world not to be able to control access to its own waters for an extended period and to be faced with fisheries quotas which hugely disadvantaged its own industry. 

"The EU’s position in this area was simply not reasonable and if there was to be an agreement it needed to shift significantly.

“The Prime Minister repeated that little time was left. He said that, if no agreement could be reached, the UK and the EU would part as friends, with the UK trading with the EU on Australian-style terms."

Ms von der Leyen said there had been “substantial progress” in the trade talks, but warned “big differences remain”.

She said: "This evening I took stock with UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the on-going negotiations for a comprehensive Partnership Agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom.

“We welcomed substantial progress on many issues. However, big differences remain to be bridged, in particular on fisheries. Bridging them will be very challenging.

“Negotiations will continue tomorrow.”

Negotiations between the UK and EU continued this week after they were given the green light following a meeting between Mr Johnson and Mrs von der Leyen last Wednesday.

Despite days of talks, Michael Gove - the Cabinet Office Minister - said on Thursday the chances of an agreement remained "less than 50 per cent".

He told the Commons Brexit Committee the "most likely outcome" was the current transition period would end on December 31 without a deal.

"I think, regrettably, the chances are more likely that we won't secure an agreement. So at the moment less than 50%," Mr Gove said.

He also said the Government will not seek to negotiate a fresh trade agreement with the EU next year if they cannot reach a deal before the end of the Brexit transition period.

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