BRUSSELS: EU chiefs and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson have agreed to assess progress on their talks for a post-Brexit trading relationship next week, an EU spokesman said on Thursday.

Johnson will talk to the heads of the three main EU institutions - the commission, parliament and council - to take stock of their negotiations, according to the spokesman for European Council chief Charles Michel. The conference call, the first to be held at such a high level, comes as negotiations on a new trade agreement between the two sides have stalled with just six months to go before Britain leaves the EU single market and customs union. The so-called transition period ends for Britain - which left the EU on January 31 after 47 years inside the European project - on December 31. And if the two sides have not reached a free trade agreement by then, the economic consequences could be potentially devastating, particularly in the wake of the coronavirus crisis. A British government spokesman said the two sides had agreed an "intensified timetable" for trade negotiations in July.