(Reuters) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is planning to hold Brexit talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in June, with UK officials warning Johnson that an agreement was needed before autumn, the Financial Times newspaper reported.
“We need a broad agreement in place by the summer,” an unnamed UK official was quoted as saying by the newspaper on Monday. “We can’t still be having this conversation in September or October”, the official added.
Downing Street said that the European Union’s plan for a common regulatory framework was “novel and unbalanced”, the report added.
“As soon as the EU accepts we will not conclude an agreement on that basis, we will be able to make progress,” Johnson’s spokesman said in a statement cited by the Financial Times.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
