The European Union continues without an agreement with the United Kingdom

Johnson and von der Leyen spoke by phone Saturday in an effort to break the deadlock in negotiations over the future of the relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union after the Brexit transition period ends on December 31.

“In a telephone conversation today about the ongoing negotiations between the European Union and the United Kingdom, we welcomed the fact that progress has been made in many areas. However, there are still significant differences on three major issues: equal opportunity, governance and fisheries. Implementation of any of the agreement if these issues are not resolved.

Written in a joint statement issued after the interview.

Aware of the severity of these differences, we agreed that our negotiation teams would make more efforts to assess whether they could be resolved. That is why we are asking our main negotiators to meet again tomorrow in Brussels. “We will talk again on Monday evening,” Johnson and von der Leyen added.

The main sticking points in the talks they referred to have not changed since the beginning of the negotiations. They are Fishing rights in British waters, equal playing conditions, that is, common regulations – within the meaning of the European Union and the European Union – regulations on matters such as labor rights, environmental protection or consumer rights, how any future contractual disputes will be resolved and what is the role of the EU Court of Justice .

The lack of an agreement before December 31, 2020, when the post-Brexit transition period ends, means that from next year, trade between the UK and the EU will follow the general rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), that is, tariffs, quantities and other barriers.

The deadline for ratification of the agreement before the end of the year is believed to be the European Union summit, which begins on Thursday.