European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic admitted negotiations over post-Brexit trading arrangements in Northern Ireland will "probably" stretch into the new year. The EU chief admitted he had been “probably too ambitious” when previously stating talks between the two sides on customs and food checks or the role of the European Court of Justice could be concluded before Christmas. He told Politico: “I think that if there was the clear political will from the UK side these problems could be solved.

       “But looking at how far we progressed over the last four weeks, the level of detail our UK partners want to discuss, I know that we will probably not be able to resolve everything before the end of the year.”

       The UK and EU have held several rounds of talks but have failed in desperate attempts to make any real breakthrough as both sides dig their heels in.

       Mr Sefcovic is hopeful London and Brussels can still make “decisive progress this week” on the issue of medicines trade between Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

       But he also warned the de-facto deadline for striking an agreement on this is in fact this week, as the EU will need some time to implement any potential solution.

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