The message: Brexit negotiations have been extended

On Sunday, the two sides agreed on a deadline for Britain’s exit from the European Union.

At lunchtime, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, held a conference call on whether negotiations should continue. The message came shortly afterwards:

Our negotiators have given us a mandate to continue negotiations to see if a solution can be found even at this late time, says Ursula von der Leyen.

Johnson: Where there is life, there is hope

At 2 pm, Boris Johnson also commented on the decision to continue talks.

– The hope was that we could come up with a solution today. But as now, we are still very far away, says the prime minister.

But where there is life, there is hope. We will continue the conversations.

At the same time, the Prime Minister emphasized that the British should prepare for the so-called Australian model, which means that the UK leaves the EU without a trade agreement at all.

We prepared well for this, says Johnson.

It could crash outside the European Union

The delay by the two parties to the deadline was not unexpected, according to SVT foreign correspondent Rolf Fredrikson.

– Despite the fact that on Wednesday it was said that the last chance was on Sunday, there has been speculation in the last hours that they may still want to keep trying, he said.

The really steep deadline is December 31, according to Fredrickson. If the two parties do not agree on a new Trade and Cooperation Agreement, the British will exit the European Union.

The potential agreement is expected to cover more than 600 pages of legal text and must be approved by both the British Parliament and the European Parliament. But before that, the agreement must be translated into all EU languages, including Swedish.

– It usually takes two months to do. In addition, it will be discussed in the European Parliament and must be approved by the governments of all member states, says Rolf Frederikson.

– But obviously, if you’re on the verge of a deal and a free trade agreement and an agreement on future relations, you should probably speed it up.