The EU and UK have said there will be three further negotiating rounds by video conference before both sides must take stock of the progress made on the future relationship negotiations by mid-June. The negotiations will start on the weeks beginning 20 April, 11 May and 1 June. The original schedule had foreseen nine rounds of negotiation during the same period, but due to the COVID-19 outbreak, negotiations had to be pulled back and replaced by video conferences where possible.

Going by the agreed upon timeline, progress on the negotiations is due to be assessed by a conference in mid-June, involving UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

This announcement came following a video conference between the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier and his UK counterpart David Frost. Despite the impact of the virus, both sides have exchanged draft legal texts and there has been contact between both teams to clarify the texts.

If the UK are to stick to their strict timetable and leave the EU without their much-coveted deal in a post-COVID-19 economy, it could potentially have a highly adverse impact. The UK government has however, consistently said it will not seek an extension to the transition period.