As an additional result of the coronavirus pandemic, planned negotiations between the UK and the EU have been abandoned after it became clear during a Eurocomission briefing that video-conferencing would not be suitable for the talks, the Guardian reported, citing sources. The UK government must still draft and provide a legal text for both sides.
While having provided documents covering trade, transport, aviation and nuclear cooperation, Great Britain has yet to elaborate on security cooperation and fisheries. Brussels claims that London's positions in the provided texts are 'of different galaxies' with those of the EU, according to the Guardian.
The UK left the European Union on 31 January, entering a transition period which will last for almost a year. Britain will nominally remain in the customs union and the EU single market until January 2021, but is no longer part of any European political institutions. The transition period will not be extended amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to the BBC.
Globally, the number of confirmed coronavirus cases is thought to have eclipsed 460,000 with at least 21,000 fatalities. In the UK, there are 9,533 confirmed cases and 463 deaths, according to World Health Organization data.
