Britain's Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove arrives in Downing Street to attend the weekly cabinet meeting in London on October 13, 2020 held at the nearby Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. (DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP)

LONDON - UK Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said that Britain and the European Union could engage in a series of “mini unilateral” deals if no trade agreement is reached by the end of the month.

Gove said that Britain and the bloc’s 27 member states could form a new “special relationship” after the end of the transition period, close to the UK and US link, which could include agreements he described as “side deals,” the Telegraph reported. 

Gove said that Britain and the bloc’s 27 member states could form a new “special relationship” after the end of the transition period, close to the UK and US link, which could include agreements he described as “side deals,” the Telegraph reported

Any trade agreement is “realistically unlikely” to be approved until after Christmas, meaning that lawmakers may only vote on a potential deal just hours ahead of the end of the transition period, he said.

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Speaking in Parliament last week, Gove said that like any set of neighbors, there will be conversations between the UK and EU member countries “choosing to make unilateral decisions that will make life easier for one or the other side and it may be that those unilateral decisions are reciprocated,” the newspaper reported.

People familiar with both sides of the negotiations told Bloomberg that the trade talks are unlikely to wrap up on Sunday, but should do so before Christmas as disagreements over fishing remain the key obstacle. European countries with large fishing industries are resisting any further concessions proposed by the European Commission. Nevertheless, officials from both sides said the gap can still be bridged.

British health minister Matt Hancock repeated Britain’s calls for the European Union to shift its position on Sunday and withdraw its “unreasonable demands” for the two sides to be able to seal a post-Brexit trade deal.

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“We want these talks to reach a positive conclusion, of course I want a deal, I think everybody wants a deal. Unfortunately, the EU have put in some unreasonable demands ... They do not respect the result of the referendum,” Hancock told Sky News, repeating that sticking points were on fisheries and the so-called level playing field on fair competition rules.

“I am sure a deal can be done but obviously it needs movement on the EU side.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the face of Britain’s 2016 campaign to leave the EU, has long said he cannot accept any deal that does not respect the country’s sovereignty, a goal that was at the heart of his election last year.

But the EU is equally determined to protect its lucrative single market and wants to prevent London securing what it considers to be the best of both worlds - preferential market access with the advantage of setting its rules.

Many businesses fear a failure to agree a deal on goods trade would send shockwaves through financial markets, hurt European economies, snarl borders and disrupt supply chains.

READ MORE: EU chief says UK trade pact closer but success not certain

While there has been some progress in the talks, the British side has taken a more pessimistic view, regularly saying that a no deal outcome was the most likely.

EU diplomats have dismissed this as “theatre” or a negotiating tactic, repeating that there is a path to deal, albeit it a narrow one.

With inputs from Reuters