British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the head of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen agreed to continue negotiations on regulating trade relations between London and the EU.

This is stated in a joint statement of politicians posted on the website of the British government.

Earlier, the parties during the next meeting again failed to reach a compromise. 

“Recently, our teams of negotiators have been working day and night.

And despite the fatigue that has accumulated over almost a whole year of negotiations, despite the fact that time after time it was not possible to meet the deadlines, we believe that at this stage it will be a responsible decision to make additional efforts.

In this regard, we authorized our representatives to continue negotiations and figure out whether it is possible to come to an agreement at such a late stage, ”the statement says.

At the same time, Boris Johnson said that the British side is ready to leave the EU without an agreement, explaining that significant differences remain between the parties.

Against the background of a lack of progress in negotiations between Brussels and London, British media reported that the country's authorities had warned supermarkets to stock up on food and other goods.

The government fears that the UK's exit from the EU without a trade agreement will create a rush for food, medicine and essential goods, leading to a shortage of them.

Suppliers have also been instructed to stockpile drugs and vaccines for six weeks, The Sunday Times reported.

Recall that without concluding an additional trade agreement, new duties will be imposed on the import of goods to the UK from mainland Europe from January 1.

The British media have repeatedly noted that this could lead to higher prices for food, medicines and basic necessities, and other economic barriers between the country and the EU will affect shipping and commercial activities.

Messages about the need to create stocks of food and medicine appeared in the media against the backdrop of news of kilometers-long traffic jams on the French side of the English Channel.

Thus, The Guadrian newspaper, citing the entourage of the head of the Haute-de-France region, reported that in the past three weeks the number of heavy vehicles on the access roads to the French port and the Eurotunnel has grown by 50%.

"November and December are always busy months, but the main reason is the extremely high accumulation of stocks due to the fact that companies are trying to deliver goods to the UK before January 1," - said the source of the newspaper.

The chairman of the EU Subcommittee on Goods of the House of Lords, Sandip Verma, sent a letter to the head of the British Cabinet of Ministers Michael Gove, in which she expressed concern that the country might not be ready for the so-called hard Brexit.

“We are not sure that all the necessary technological, physical and welfare mechanisms will be introduced in time to avoid or reduce the scale of a serious shock that will follow the transition period,” the politician stressed.

Verma added that Johnson's cabinet is "too optimistic."

“By default, everything is assumed to be ready, and this is reflected in the alarming lack of preparedness in case of emergencies,” said Sandeep Verma in the letter.

Negotiation deadlock

Even before the next round of negotiations, Boris Johnson said that the conditions put forward by the European Union to Great Britain were unacceptable.

“Our friends in the EU now insist that if they adopt a new law in the future that we will not comply with, they will automatically have the right to punish us,” RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.

In turn, Brussels believes that the UK, after leaving the EU, will receive an advantage over the rest of the EU member states, retaining free access to the EU internal market, but not obeying European regulators.

  • A cluster of trucks in British Dover

  • Reuters

  • © Henry Nicholls

Another stumbling block for a trade agreement between London and the European Union was the issue of fishing in British territorial waters.

Brussels insists that European fishermen should be given access to British territorial waters.

Otherwise, the EU fish market will be closed to London.

The British side, in turn, comes forward with proposals to establish quotas for fishing in their waters, but the EU has repeatedly rejected these proposals.

The post-Brexit fisheries issue has fueled such tensions that Johnson has threatened to deploy warships in the region to prevent European trawlers from fishing in British territorial waters.

At the same time, the country's Ministry of Defense confirmed that from January 1, four armed vessels will be put on alert in order to fulfill this order, The Guardian reports.

Prolonged exit

Despite the fact that Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen have agreed to continue negotiations, they have little time to reach a compromise.

The transition period after which the UK will no longer be part of the European Union and the EU's single market will end on 31 December.

As Natalya Eremina, professor of the Department of European Studies at the Faculty of International Relations of St. Petersburg State University, explained in an interview with RT, in addition to questions about the distribution of quotas for fishing, the issue of the status of the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland also remains unresolved.

  • British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

  • Reuters

Recall that in Northern Ireland, for 40 years, the civil ethnopolitical conflict lasted between Protestant Orangeists (loyal to Great Britain) and Catholic Republicans (Irish nationalists).

In 1998, the Belfast Agreement was concluded, which ended the confrontation.

The agreement was based on the provision that there is no physical border between Northern Ireland, which is part of Britain, and the Republic of Ireland, which remains part of the EU.

Northern Ireland is strongly opposed to leaving the EU without an agreement, as this would mean the end of the "transparent" border due to the need for checks.

“These issues cannot be resolved in principle.

The British side clearly indicates sovereignty in these matters and is trying to implement its tasks.

At the same time, the EU is building a certain model of relations with Great Britain, which does not imply concessions.

It is for this reason that the parties will not come to an agreement, ”Natalya Eremina believes.

According to Vladimir Shapovalov, deputy director of the Institute of History and Politics at Moscow State Pedagogical University, Britain's exit from the EU without a deal will indeed cause a consumer crisis.

“Britain is currently quite dependent on Europe for food supplies as well as basic supplies.

Therefore, a sharp break in relations is fraught with a collapse in the sphere of consumption, ”the political scientist noted.

Vladimir Shapovalov noted that if it is impossible to agree on a trade agreement, the country will have to completely restructure its consumption and commodity market, which will be extremely difficult to do.

The political scientist added that by setting conditions that are obviously unacceptable for the UK, Brussels wants to punish the country for the hardest blow to the EU's image, which has become Brexit.

“It is for this reason that the European Union throughout the entire procedure is doing everything possible to harm Britain as much as possible, to punish it for making such a decision.

And the likelihood that on January 1, 2021, there will be a sharp gap between Britain and the EU, with subsequent negative consequences for the entire population of the UK, is very high, ”the expert concluded.