Brexit Talks Set to Finish Without Agreement as Deadline Looms

The latest round of talks between the U.K. and European Union over their future relationship is set to finish without agreement, with both sides stuck after a week of making little progress.

Officials are still far apart on crucial issues ahead of a key deadline at the end of the month, and the tense atmosphere hasn’t improved significantly, according to people familiar with the matter.

The failure to narrow the gap between the U.K. and EU positions will add to pressure for Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to intervene directly to break the deadlock when they hold talks later this month. EU officials hope then to persuade Johnson to compromise—but that may be “wishful thinking” in the words of the prime minister’s spokesman.

The two sides have made “no real progress,” Germany’s ambassador to the bloc, Michael Clauss, said Thursday. He warned that the post-Brexit deliberations could now drag on through October, spelling months of uncertainty for businesses and consumers.

“Is a deal possible? Yes, definitely,” Clauss told an online event Thursday organized by the Brussels-based European Policy Centre. “But I think it also means that the U.K. needs to have a more realistic approach,” he said. Britain “cannot have full sovereignty and at the same time full access to the internal market.”

The two sides have clashed over what measures will be needed to ensure a level competitive playing field between the two sides as well as over the EU’s demand to have continued access to U.K. fishing waters, which are among the most fertile in Europe.

Johnson has said he won’t accede to Brussels’ demands to sign up to some of the bloc’s regulations after Brexit, something the EU insists is a red line for any deal. Earlier in the week, Downing Street dismissed reports that Johnson was ready to compromise on giving EU boats access to U.K. waters.

There are just weeks left until a crucial June 30 deadline by when the U.K. needs to decide if it is going to ask to extend the negotiations beyond the end of this year.

So far, Johnson has repeatedly ruled out seeking additional time and has warned that if no significant progress is made by the end of the month, he may walk away from the negotiating table and prepare instead to leave the EU single market and customs union without a new trade agreement in place.

That would see costly tariffs imposed on goods traded between the two sides and leave businesses grappling with additional paperwork.

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Clauss warned that the post-Brexit negotiations could still occupy much of the EU’s political attention in September and October—effectively the last date a deal could be signed and still be implemented in time for the year-end.

“This is a must-do,” he said. “We work under the assumption the U.K. isn’t going to ask for an extension. That means a deal needs to be struck in the next six months.”