The EU-27 could be informed by the Commission on Thursday 10 December of the state of play in the negotiations with the UK, even though the subject of post-Brexit relations is not officially on the agenda, a diplomatic source said on 9 December.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was indeed due to dine with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday evening, but should an agreement be reached, the EU-27 would not be able to give the go-ahead on Thursday in any case, the diplomat said.
More time will be needed to analyse the content of a potential agreement and to clarify the nature of the agreement, whether it is of mixed (ratification by national parliaments and European Parliament) or exclusive (Parliament only) competence, issues that are “not yet clear”, said the source.
It is also possible that the Heads of State or Government will call for accelerated preparations for a no-deal scenario by 1 January, as failure of the talks this week is not impossible.
According to another source, “on the substance of the negotiations, things have not really moved forward since the weekend”. “It cannot be ruled out that Ursula von der Leyen and Boris Johnson will try to negotiate, but it seems unlikely that an agreement will be reached overnight”. It is “much more likely that the negotiators will be given another mandate to continue the negotiations”.
For his part, on 9 December, Sadiq Khan, the Mayor of London, took part in a debate at the Committee of the Regions and called on the negotiators to continue discussions until a trade agreement is reached.
He called for an immediate extension of the transition period if a trade agreement cannot be concluded within the framework of the ongoing negotiations, the Committee said in a statement. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)