British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hosted European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at Downing Street, hours after she told the UK it would be “basically impossible” to negotiate all aspects of its departure from the EU by the end of 2020 and each side needed to pick priorities while discussing their future relationship.
Johnson has said he will not entertain the idea of extending Britain’s departure date beyond the current December 31 deadline.
Both parties expect Johnson to get parliamentary approval on his withdrawal agreement before the end of January after his Conservative party significantly increased its majority in December’s snap election.
That would then pave the way for discussions on the future relationship to begin.