Recap: Brexit trade talks break up without agreement

1. Talks have ended in Brussels between Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
2. Downing Street said "very large gaps remain between the two sides and it is still unclear whether these can be bridged"
3. The two leaders will come to a decision about the future of the talks by Sunday
4. Johnson and von der Leyen were working through a list of sticking points that have so far blocked a Brexit trade deal being agreed
5. Three "critical issues" need to be resolved - fishing rights, government support for industry and how a deal is enforced
6. Time is running out to reach a deal before 31 December, when the UK stops following EU trading rules.
7. The UK left the EU on 31 January, but remains under its trading rules until the end of the year
8. If a deal is not agreed by then, tariffs - or taxes on goods - could come into force

That's it from us - here's what you missed

We're leaving it there for our live coverage this evening.

As Boris Johnson returns to London after his Brussels dinner with Ursula von der Leyen the fate of Brexit trade talks hangs in the balance. To recap:

• Talks tonight have ended without agreement, with both the UK and EU acknowledging they remain far apart on key issues
• The two sides' negotiating teams will nevertheless continue talks from tomorrow, and have resolved to make a firm decision by Sunday
• A No 10 spokesman said "very large gaps remain between the two sides and it is still unclear whether these can be bridged"
• It follows a three-hour dinner at European Commission HQ between the two leaders at which they dined on Pavlova, exotic fruit and...you guessed it, fish

Reuters

The team with you tonight were Jennifer Scott, Paul Seddon and editing Johanna Howitt.

Thanks for following along with us.

Ticking clock of transition period

Jessica Parker

BBC political correspondent

So No 10 describes tonight’s talks as “frank”, while Ursula von der Leyen says they were “lively”.

All diplomatic speak, surely, for a difficult evening, and that’s evidenced by what’s come from it.

Large gaps remain between the two sides, we're told.

The point of this dinner was to try and gives the negotiations, which had stalled, a political push.

But it’s far from clear that the negotiators will enter the room tomorrow with any kind of fresh mandate, or any more flexibility, than they had before.

Meanwhile, Sunday is the latest deadline.

A government source tonight said it really will be a firm end point - a day to decide whether a deal can be done or if it’s time to walk away.

Brexit deadlines have been missed before, of course, but the ticking clock of the transition period tells us this can’t go on much longer.

Downing Street release official statement

We now have an official statement from No 10 on tonight's meeting and here it is in full:

The prime minister and President von der Leyen met for dinner in Brussels this evening. The leaders had a frank discussion about the state of play in the negotiations. They acknowledged that the situation remained very difficult and there were still major differences between the two sides. They agreed that chief negotiators would continue talks over the next few days and that a firm decision should be taken about the future of the talks by Sunday. The prime minister is determined not to leave any route to a fair deal untested, but any agreement must respect the independence and sovereignty of the UK.

Downing Street spokesman

BBC

UK PM Boris Johnson leaving the talks in Brussels earlier

SNP: No deal would be 'massive failure of diplomacy'

PA Media

The SNP's leader in Westminster is warning against the "self-harm" of leaving the EU without a deal.

Ian Blackford took to Twitter after the news broke from the Brussels dinner, saying: "A no deal would be a massive failure of diplomacy and leadership which Boris Johnson has to take ownership of."

He said it would do particular damage in light of the "health and economic impact" of coronavirus.

And he added: "Disruption to trade, tariffs, higher prices and lost jobs is never a price worth paying."

Jenrick does not want 'false hope' for deal

Reuters

Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick says he does not want to "give false hope" about getting a trade deal with the EU.

Speaking to ITV's Peston programme, he said he had talked to the prime minister's team tonight and there were "still very significant areas of disagreement" between the UK and EU.

He admitted things were getting close to the wire with the transition period deadline looming.

And he said Sunday would be the "decision point... whether ultimately there is a deal to be done or to accept disagreements are too great and we need to move forward".

But Jenrick promised "concerted efforts to break those divides" between the two negotiating teams, even if he believed the UK would "thrive under any arrangement" - or lack thereof.

'Fudge for last supper at EU talks'

i

Daily Express

'Four days to save trade deal'

Since the news broke in Brussels that the latest Brexit talks had ended without clear agreement on a UK-EU trade deal, the UK newspaper front pages have started to come in.

Both sides said a decision on the future of the talks should be taken by Sunday.

Daily Telegraph

Daily Mail

Pictures from the big meeting

Downing Street has published a number of pictures from the meeting in Brussels tonight...

No 10 Flickr

First, from left to right, is the UK's chief Brexit negotiator, Lord David Frost, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, and EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier

No 10 Flickr

Here are the two leaders just before heading into the dinner, discussing when to wear a mask

No 10 Flickr

"After you prime minister" - Von der Leyen points the way into the meeting

BreakingEU chief: 'Lively and interesting discussion' on remaining issues

We've just heard from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who says her three-hour long dinner with UK PM Boris Johnson tonight was "a lively and interesting discussion" on "outstanding issues":

" We had a lively & interesting discussion on the state of play on outstanding issues. We gained a clear understanding of each other´s positions. They remain far apart. "We agreed that the teams should immediately reconvene to try to resolve these essential issues. "We will come to a decision by the end of the weekend."

Ursula von der LeyenPresident of the European Commission

PA Wire

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

No 10 makes clear meeting has not gone well

Laura Kuenssberg

Political editor

It's been made clear Downing Street that tonight's meeting has not gone well.

Reading between the lines, it appears tonight has been far from any kind of breakthrough.

But in politics, in the whole Brexit process, the distance been Wednesday and Sunday is a very, very long time.

So while this appears tonight towards being a big and significant step towards leaving the transition period without a firm arrangement in place, it's still not impossible a deal could happen.

Labour: Get the deal done

Labour's shadow Cabinet Office minister, Rachel Reeves, is one of the first UK opposition MPs to respond to the news from Brussels.

She says the prime minister "promised an oven ready deal" for Brexit, and now "needs to get it done so we can focus on what matters to the British people".

BreakingBBC political editor tweets....

Breaking'Firm decision' by Sunday, but 'very large gaps' remain

BBC Politics

Discussions between Johnson and von der Leyen don't seem to have gone as well as some may have hoped.

A senior source from No 10 said the leaders had a "frank discussion about the significant obstacles which remain in the negotiations".

But despite three hours together, "very large gaps remain between the two sides and it is still unclear whether these can be bridged".

The source said there would be discussions over the next few days between UK and EU negotiating teams and the PM "does not want to leave any route to a possible deal untested".

They added the pair agreed "a firm decision should be taken about the future of the talks" by Sunday.

BreakingJohnson leaves Commission

BBC Europe editor Katya Adler has been outside the European Commission tonight, and says she has just seen Boris Johnson leaving.

Are the talks over?

Where does the UK trade?

BBC

What trade deals has the UK done so far?

Getty Images

Talks between the UK and the EU are under way, in an attempt to secure a post-Brexit trade deal.

If no agreement is reached by 31 December, charges will be introduced on many things the UK buys and sells, which could push up prices.

But what is a trade deal, and how many has the UK struck around the world since it left the EU in January?

You can read more here.

No 10: Meal ongoing

BBC Politics

We are all waiting to find out how the meeting is going between the leaders.

We know Johnson arrived shortly after 19:00 GMT, and they have been locked in a room since then discussing a future deal.

But a spokesman from No 10 said the dinner was ongoing at 21:30 GMT.

That's one lengthy meal...

What is the transition period?

EPA

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson arriving in Brussels earlier for talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

In the last post we mentioned that, even though the UK left the EU on 31 January it continued to follow EU rules. And it will do so until 31 December.

That 11 month gap is known as the transition period - or implementation period.

So what is the transition period and why is it necessary?

Wait.... isn't there already a Brexit deal?

Get

In short - yes - the UK has already signed a deal with the European Union.

That was the withdrawal agreement - or the 'divorce deal' - which passed in 2019, setting out the terms of the UK’s exit from the EU.

Tonight's talks are about the next step: the possibility of a new trade agreement between the two sides. If they were to strike deal - it would set out new joint rules on how they do business with each other in the future.

But time is running out - the UK will stop following current EU trading rules on 31 December.

And just to quickly recap - UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are meeting right now in Brussels to try to find a breakthrough in the “significant differences" that remain on getting a deal.

Von der Leyen 'a bit like a lawyer' in Brexit trade talks

BBC News Channel

BBC

Tom Tugendhat also chairs the Commons foreign affairs committee.

So that's who Ursula von der Leyen is, but why is she talking to Boris Johnson tonight?

Well, it's because she's in charge of the European Commission, the Brussels-based body negotiating a trade deal on behalf of the 27 EU countries.

But it's worth remembering that ultimately, the Commission negotiators will be taking their instructions from the European governments they represent.

Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat tells BBC News this means Mrs von der Leyen is "a bit like the lawyer you hire to sell your house, or to buy somebody else’s”.

"Her room for manoeuvre is very limited,” he adds.