London: The European Union’s top executive and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will meet this month for talks that could give new momentum to the stalled post-Brexit negotiations.
As a fourth round of talks between teams of negotiators resumed Tuesday with little hope for a breakthrough on a future trade deal, the bloc’s executive arm said a meeting is planned between EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Johnson by the end of June.
Daniel Ferrie, the commission spokesperson for EU-U.K. negotiations, said the date and format of the encounter have yet to be determined.
The U.K. left the political institutions of the EU on Jan. 31, but remains inside the EU’s tariff-free single market and customs union until the end of the year. That so-called transition period can be extended by two years although a deal to do so has to be made by July 1, according to the legal documents accompanying Brexit.
Johnson has repeatedly said he will not extend the transition period beyond Dec. 31.
