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There is pain on the European side too, of course, but it is less dependent overall on the Britain-EU trade relationship. And for Brusssels, says CER economist John Springford, Britain's pain is a necessary price. "The strategy of the EU has always been to play hardball because they need to show that Brexit hurts," he says. 

Sam Lowe, of the Centre for European Reform, a think tank, points out that doing deals is also harder when there is no deadline.

Sam Lowe, a senior research fellow at the Centre for European Reform, said the number of empty lorries is a cause or concern.“[They] suggest a substantial hit to the UK economy. And with new sanitary and photo sanitary controls still to be phased in by the British it is possible we will see increased disruption over the coming months,” he said.

Charles Grant, Director of the Centre for European Reform, fears the UK still has five key areas that will determine the future relationship between the country and the European Union. Mr Grant looked at European countries outside the EU, like Switzerland, who have been in a constant negotiation limbo with the bloc since the mid-seventies. The political expert forecast Brexit Britain may soon be entering a similar situation and face as much as 50 years of additional talks with Brussels.

Camino Mortera-Martinez, an expert in EU justice and security at the Centre for European Reform, foresees difficulties in reconciling the EU’s perceived data protection “gold standard” with the UK becoming laxer to boost innovation. 

“Trump literally thought that EU had been set up to cheat and take advantage of the US,” said Luigi Scazzieri, a researcher at the Centre for European Reform think-tank. “Biden doesn’t, so this makes working together feasible in a huge range of areas,” he said.