Britain has accused the EU of wanting to string out Brexit trade talks until the November deadline for an agreement in the hope of making the UK cave in to its demands. With the latest round of negotiations beginning on Tuesday, Boris Johnson wants to up the pace of the talks after making it clear that he will not extend the transition period and will not budge on sovereignty issues such as fishing rights. Ministers are anxious to ensure that businesses have as much time as possible to prepare for whatever trading regime is in place when the UK’s current arrangements come to an end on December 31. Their aim is to make significant progress before Mr Johnson holds a meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in July, at which the Prime Minister will formally reject an offer of an extension. But there are fears that EU leaders think that by running down the clock Britain will fold at the last minute. Mr Johnson has made clear he will not blink and is prepared to leave the EU without a trade deal if necessary. A trade deal must be negotiated, translated and presented to the European Parliament by November 26 in order for it to be ratified by the end of the year. The date coincides with MEPs’ penultimate plenary session of the year in Strasbourg, with the final one in mid-December coming too late to sign off any deal with the UK. A UK source close to the negotiations said: “We expect next week’s round to be constructive and keep the process on track. But then we are going to need things to move forward faster. “We recognise the EU have other important issues on their plate too, as we all do, but they can’t just mark time on these talks. “The EU seems to have finally understood we aren’t going to move on fundamentals, so they now need to think quickly about how they can find an agreement that reflects this reality.” Until now, the talks have been deadlocked over issues including fishing rights, with the EU insisting its members must maintain similar access to British waters as they currently do, and Mr Johnson stating baldly that it will be up to Britain who fishes in its waters from Jan 1.
