European Commission President Von der Lein and British Prime Minister Johnson had a phone call on December 13. The two sides decided to continue negotiations on the future relationship and strive to reach an agreement in a short time.

Von Delane gave a video speech at noon that day and read out a short EU-UK joint statement. Von Delane said she had a “constructive and helpful” conversation with Johnson. The two parties unanimously decided to authorize their respective teams to continue negotiations and strive to reach an agreement in the short time remaining.

Britain officially “Brexit” on January 31 this year, and then entered an 11-month transition period. The two sides started negotiations on future relations with a trade agreement as the core in March, and look forward to reaching an agreement during the transition period. If no agreement is reached, the bilateral trade will return to the World Trade Organization framework from 2021 and re-implement arrangements such as border inspections and tariffs. Due to major differences on the level of playing field, contract performance management, and fishery issues, the two sides’ trade agreement negotiations continue to fall into a deadlock.