UK, EU agree to go 'extra mile' for deal

BRUSSELS－London and Brussels agreed to "go the extra mile" in coming days to try to reach an elusive trade agreement despite missing their latest deadline to avert a turbulent "no deal" exit for Britain from the European Union's orbit at the end of the month.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the president of the EU's executive Commission Ursula von der Leyen had given negotiators a Sunday deadline to find a way to resolve an impasse on arrangements that would guarantee Britain zero-tariff and zero-quota access to the EU's single market.

Both said on Friday that a no-deal was now the most likely outcome, but on Sunday they mandated negotiators to continue.

"Despite the exhaustion after almost a year of negotiations, despite the fact that deadlines have been missed over and over we think it is responsible at this point to go the extra mile," Johnson and von der Leyen said in a joint statement.

On Saturday the UK took the dramatic step of announcing that armed naval vessels will patrol its waters from Jan 1 to exclude European crews from the fisheries they have shared, in some cases for centuries.

Brussels' tone has been less bellicose, and von der Leyen has made it clear that the EU will respect UK sovereignty after Britain's post-Brexit transition period, but neither side is yet ready to compromise on its core principles.

Without a trade deal, cross-Channel trade will revert to World Trade Organization rules, with tariffs driving up prices and generating paper work for importers, and the failed negotiation may poison relations between London and Brussels for years to come.

On Wednesday, after what von der Leyen described as a "lively and interesting" working supper with Johnson in Brussels failed to find a breakthrough, she said they had agreed to "come to a decision by the end of the weekend".

Much of the text of a possible trade deal was said to be ready, but London has rejected Brussels' insistence on a mechanism to allow it to retaliate if UK and EU law diverge in a way that puts continental firms at a competitive disadvantage.

"The defense of the single market is a red line for the EU," a senior EU source said, echoing an earlier statement from von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission.

"What we have proposed to the United Kingdom respects British sovereignty. It could be the basis for an agreement."

In London, a spokesman for the British government stressed that the UK was ready to leave the union and handle its own affairs after 47 years of close economic integration and that "as things stand, the offer on the table from the EU remains unacceptable".

"The prime minister will leave no stone unturned in this process, but he is absolutely clear: any agreement must be fair and respect the fundamental position that the UK will be a sovereign nation in three weeks' time," the source said.

The Sunday Times newspaper said British ministers have warned supermarkets to stockpile food amid possibilities of a no-deal Brexit.

Johnson is set to take control of planning if the country opts for no deal and will chair an exit operations committee to prepare the response, the newspaper said.

Ministers have told suppliers of medicines, medical devices and vaccines to stockpile six weeks' worth at secure locations in the UK, it said.

Earlier, Downing Street had said the government had a playbook that "maps out every single foreseeable scenario" for potential problems after Dec 31, and "no one needs to worry about our food, medicine or vital supply chains".

Agencies Via Xinhua