The negotiations between the UK and the EU are deadlocked. The British prime minister describes the likelihood of an unregulated exit from the EU as high.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson no longer sees many opportunities for a successful conclusion of the negotiations for a trade agreement between Great Britain and the European Union. There is a high probability that an agreement will not be reached for the time after his country leaves the EU, said Johnson. "There is now a high likelihood that we will get a solution that is similar to Australia's relationship with the EU, and not one that corresponds to Canadian-European relations." Australia does not have a free trade agreement with the EU, but Canada does.

That doesn't mean it's bad, Johnson said. Nevertheless, he would travel to Paris, Brussels or Berlin in order to still reach an agreement. British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab named Sunday as the final deadline for decision-making, but left a back door open. Negotiations would reach a "moment of finality" over the weekend, he said. Sunday is the final deadline, but: "You can never say definitely never."

Last deadline Sunday

Great Britain and the EU have set a final deadline of Sunday in the negotiations. Then it should be decided whether a trade agreement for the period from January 2021 is possible. The main points of contention in the negotiations continue to be a fair playing field, control of a future agreement and fishing rights for EU fishermen in UK waters.

The EU is already preparing for a hard break at the turn of the year. For this scenario, the EU Commission proposed emergency measures to ensure that air and road traffic continue to run as smoothly as possible for the next six months. Among other things, fishermen should continue to have access to the waters on the other side for a year. To do this, Great Britain would have to propose similar steps.

Great Britain officially left the EU at the end of January, of which the Kingdom had been a member since 1973. The transition phase ends on December 31, during which Great Britain still has to apply the EU rules. In the event that a free trade agreement is not reached, experts expect serious consequences for the British economy.