BRUSSELS • The European Union and Britain have said major divergences remain but that post-Brexit negotiations would continue this week to clinch a trade deal in the scant time left.
Following a phone call with Mr Boris Johnson, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said the differences were "large", while the British Prime Minister described them as "significant".
EU negotiator Michel Barnier said he would head back to London to resume talks with his British counterpart David Frost.
Despite multiple rounds of talks, including two weeks of "intense" meetings that ended last Wednesday, the sides remain far apart on fishing rights and rules for competition between British and European companies.
"Some progress has been made, but large differences remain especially on level playing field and fisheries. Our teams will continue working hard next week," Ms von der Leyen tweeted last Saturday.
Mr Johnson said the negotiating teams would reconvene in London today, "in order to redouble efforts to reach a deal", according to a Downing Street spokesman.
Mr Johnson "set out that, while some progress had been made in recent discussions, significant differences remain in a number of areas, including the so-called level playing field and fish", he said.
Both leaders agreed to remain in personal contact as well, signalling a stepped-up political effort to secure a new trading partnership before Britain ends a post-Brexit transition period on Dec 31.
Before then, several weeks are needed for any treaty to be vetted and ratified by both sides, and observers have said they will be cutting it very fine if agreement is not reached by mid-November.
RED LINES
Both sides had warned earlier in the year that a draft deal should be ready before end-October if it is to be ratified by the EU and British Parliaments before the end of the year. But the talks blew past this unofficial deadline, and Britain could yet leave the EU single market and Customs union at midnight on Dec 31 with no follow-on framework for cross-Channel business.
Although both sides say they would prefer to avoid the economic disruption this would entail, they insist they are ready if it comes to that, and neither is yet ready to cross their red lines.
For Britain, this means reasserting sovereignty over its fishing waters. The EU says it wants a "fair deal" that gives access for boats from the bloc's member states like France and the Netherlands.
Mr Barnier said he was going to London "to find an agreement that respects the interests and values of the EU and its 27 member states".
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
