(Reuters) – Britain and the European Union will fail to sign a post-Brexit trade deal, with only a few days left before Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s July deadline, The Telegraph reported.
The UK government’s assumption is that there will not be a deal, though it remains possible that a “basic” agreement could be reached if the EU gives ground in the autumn, the newspaper said, citing government sources.
The government expects it will trade with Europe on World Trade Organisation terms when the transition period ends, the report added.
Britain left the EU on Jan. 31 and its relationship with the bloc is now governed by a transition arrangement that keeps previous rules in place while the two sides negotiate new terms.
Negotiators remain deadlocked on fishing rights, the deal’s governance, the European Court of Justice’s role and so-called level playing field guarantees, the newspaper reported.
Britain is pursuing trade deals with other countries and setting up its own sanctions regime, and has previously insisted it should not have to sign up to the bloc’s standards.
A spokesman for Johnson said on Monday Britain will continue to engage constructively with EU in talks on a future relationship, but that London is not willing to give up its rights as an independent state.
(Reporting by Aakriti Bhalla in Bengaluru; Editing by Sandra Maler and Marguerita Choy)
