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Dec. 21 (UPI) -- British and European Union negotiators will keep reaching for a Brexit trade deal on Monday after what was viewed as a deadline on Sunday came and went without a resolution. European Parliament had said an agreement was needed Sunday so it could pass through the required approval process by Jan. 1, when the Brexit transition period ends. A dispute about fishing in British territorial waters appears to be the main sticking point, however.
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British health secretary Matt Hancock said the EU added "unreasonable demands" to their proposal on the issue.
"I'm sure that a deal can be done, but obviously it needs movement on the EU side," Hancock said.
The EU has said it wants the right to sanction Britain if the British government closes off the waters to European vessels, beginning in January. Britain has insisted that it has exclusive access to the 6-to-12 nautical mile zone off the British coast.
EU members France and Belgium said their fishermen have worked those same waters for centuries.
Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, a longtime Brexit critic, has called on British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to seek an extension for the transition period to go beyond Dec. 31.
Both sides set the transition period early this year when Britain formally left the bloc. The start of negotiations in the spring, however, were delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. A new outbreak in Britain is now posing a threat to a potential agreement.
"It's now imperative that [Johnson] seeks an agreement to extend the Brexit transition period," Sturgeon tweeted.
"The new COVID strain -- and the various implications of it -- means we face a profoundly serious situation and it demands our 100% attention. It would be unconscionable to compound it with Brexit."
London's Mayor Sadiq Khan joined Sturgeon in calling for a postponed deadline.
"Securing our key supply chains and fighting the coronavirus pandemic requires the full and undivided efforts of ministers more than ever before," he said.
