Brexit talks to continue past no-deal deadline, with PM to be told agreement can still be reached

Boris Johnson will delay a decision on whether to quit the Brexit trade negotiations until after the European Council summit ends on Friday, after it became clear his no-deal deadline will be missed tomorrow.

The Prime Minister set an October 15 deadline for the trade agreement to be “in sight” by the EU summit, which starts on Thursday afternoon.

David Frost, the UK’s chief negotiator, will brief Mr Johnson today before the Prime Minister speaks to Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, and Charles Michel, the European Council president, at 7.30pm.

Lord Frost will tell the Prime Minister that he thinks a deal can still be done, but warn that trade negotiations must be stepped up and further intensified if the agreement is to be clinched.

A UK spokesman said Mr Johnson's final decision could not be pre-judged. "There are still differences, with fisheries being the starkest. We need to get substance settled," the spokesman said.

Mr Johnson’s final decision on whether to walk from the talks, as he threatened to do in September, will depend on what EU leaders decide at the summit, as well as his talks with Mr Michel and Mrs von der Leyen tonight.

Mr Michel will urge Boris Johnson to "move forward, find solutions and negotiate in good faith," in the call a senior EU official said.

EU leaders will discuss Brexit on Thursday, the first day of the two day summit, after being briefed by Michel Barnier.

Leaked conclusions for Thursday’s European Council revealed that the EU, which never accepted Mr Johnson’s deadline, expects trade negotiations to continue up to its deadline of the end of the month.

The UK and EU remain deeply divided over fishing rights after Brexit with little progress made in negotiations over access to UK waters.

Negotiators are struggling to agree a system which would allow the future UK and current EU subsidy law regime to co-exist and develop in time in a way that guarantees fair competition.

There is also disagreement over level playing field guarantees for tax, environment and labour rights, with the EU insistent on a system that would allow standards to match each other over time instead of a non-regression clause dating from the end of the transition period on December 31. .

There also remain differences over the enforcement of the future trading relationship, with the UK anxious over Brussels’s demand for a cross-cutting dispute resolution system across all sectors of the deal.

There has been good progress on aviation, road haulage, social security, energy, continued participation in some EU programmes and judicial cooperation and law enforcement. Agreement is understood to be close in those areas.

More work is needed on technical issues relating to the trade in goods and especially in services. As a result the proposed trade deal is more basic and less comprehensive than it could be.

The EU continues to reject mutual recognition of testing labs. A UK demand which would allow Britain to export assembled goods from products imported outside of the EU tariff free as a British good is still being rejected by the European Commission.

"We have seen some progress on different files, but there is still a lot of distance to be covered," a senior EU official said.

The British side is frustrated by the lack of progress since Mr Johnson and Mrs von der Leyen agreed to intensify talks two weeks ago. The following negotiations were not as intensive as was hoped, sources said.

No common legal texts of any kind have been exchanged, which would be usual for trade negotiations at this late stage, and “landing zones” on areas closer to the agreement have not been put to paper.

Truly intensive talks would involve negotiators speaking every day, which has not happened over the last two weeks, and on the basis of legal texts.

EU leaders are expected to note “with concern that progress on the key issues of interest to the Union is still not sufficient for an agreement to be reached” at Thursday and Friday's summit.

The heads of state and government will call for as “close a partnership as possible” with the UK and for Michel Barnier to “intensify negotiations” ahead of the EU’s end of October deadline for a deal, according to leaked draft summit conclusions.

The European Council will also call for no-deal preparations to be stepped up and reiterate that clauses undermining the Withdrawal Agreement be withdrawn from the UK’s Internal Market Bill.

On Wednesday, Europe ministers repeated their demand that Britain makes “substantial progress” on fishing, the level playing field and enforcement of the deal.

EU diplomats warned that at the moment no “tunnel”, which is jargon for secret intensive talks to clinch a deal, was in sight.

UK sources have blamed Mr Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, for the delay. They accuse him of failing to marshall EU governments behind compromises on fishing and state aid. They also claim that Mr Barnier set the October 15 deadline, before extending it to the end of October.

"There needs to be an agreement with our European friends by the time of the European Council on October 15 if it's going to be in force by the end of the year,” Mr Johnson said in September.

“So there is no sense in thinking about timelines that go beyond that point. If we can't agree by then, then I do not see that there will be a free trade agreement between us, and we should both accept that and move on."

Yesterday, Mr Johnson told his Cabinet that no deal should hold “no fear” for Britain.

Meanwhile, scallops wars broke out again in the English Channel as French trawlers confronted British counterparts - firing flares and throwing frying pans.

Two British boats based in Brixham, Devon, were surrounded by about 20 French vessels and pelted by objects. The hostile French crews even threw oil at one boat, before firing a flare at it. Tensions have been growing each year due to a difference in fishing restrictions between the UK and France. British scallopers can fish year-round, with the French prevented between May 15 and October 1.

France insists the interests of its fishermen, who are dependent on access to UK waters, will not be sacrificed to secure the free trade deal.