UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is in Brussels on Wednesday evening, with hopes of a post-Brexit trade deal hanging on crisis talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Johnson has said the EU is insisting on terms "no prime minister could accept" in the trade talks. 

Johnson told UK members of parliament that "a good deal is still there to be done." But the country is refusing to accept a mechanism that would allow the EU to retaliate quickly if UK business regulations change in ways that put European firms at a disadvantage. 

Johnson was asked in the House of Commons by Conservative MP Edward Leigh about the likelihood of a deal, to which he responded: "Our friends in the EU are currently insisting that if they pass a new law in future with which we in this country do not comply or don't follow suit, then they want the automatic right to punish us and to retaliate.

"And, secondly, they're saying the UK should be the only country in the world not to have sovereign control over its fishing waters. I don't believe that those are terms that any prime minister of this country should accept."

His return to Brussels marks the last opportunity of a breakthrough before Britain leaves the European Union's single market, with discussions stalling over the issue of fair competition.

Major disagreements remain between the UK and the EU over fishing rights in UK waters, business competition rules and how a deal will be policed. However, time is running out to resolve these issues before December 31, when the UK stops following EU trading rules. 

In response to being asked by opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer about the risks of a no-deal Brexit when the transition period ends on January 1, Johnson said the UK would be "a magnet for overseas investment," whatever the outcome. 

He added: "There will be jobs created in this country, throughout the whole of the UK, not just in spite of Brexit but because of Brexit. 

"Indeed, this country is going to become a magnet for overseas investment. Indeed it already is, and will remain so." 

Starmer said the prime minister failed to secure the "oven-ready" Brexit deal he had spoken of during the general election campaign last year. Johnson responded by saying he had referred to the Withdrawal Agreement, which allowed the UK to leave the EU on January 31 this year. 

The prime minister said the UK would be able now to introduce a new immigration regime, raise animal welfare standards and strike new trade deals with other countries. 

Johnson will work through a list of the main barriers to progress on a deal at a dinner with Von der Leyen, expected to start at 7 p.m. GMT. Von der Leyen is to represent the leaders of the 27 EU member nations. 

The prime minister's spokeswoman, Allegra Stratton, said the dinner would not be a negotiation. 

"It's a dinner, it's a conversation between two political leaders," she said.  

"The prime minister is going to be clear this evening that he can't accept anything that undermines our ability to control our laws, or to control our waters. He's going to put that clearly to Ursula von der Leyen to see what her response is."

EU negotiator Michel Barnier and his UK counterpart David Frost have narrowed the gaps over eight months of talks but London insists it will reclaim full sovereignty at the end of the year, following almost half a century of close economic integration. 

If the UK leaves the single market in three weeks without a follow-on free trade agreement (FTA,) the delays that travelers and freight will face at its borders with the European Union will be compounded by import tariffs that will push up prices.

UK minister Michael Gove, who with Johnson led the "leave" campaign in the 2016 Brexit referendum, said: "I hope we will secure a FTA."

He also warned that if there is no deal, the UK would take steps "to make sure British businesses are as competitive as possible."

Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel said there was still a chance for a deal but also warned: "We must not endanger the integrity of the common market." 

Johnson spoke to Von der Leyen on Monday by phone to secure the last-chance dinner invitation after negotiations between Barnier and Frost broke off without agreement. Officials on both sides have not expressed much visible optimism ahead of the encounter. 

As he toured a London hospital on Tuesday, Johnson said: "I am hopeful, but I have to be honest with you, the situation at the moment is tricky. 

"Our friends have to understand the UK has left the EU to exercise democratic control. We are a long way apart still."

Barnier also delivered a briefing to European ministers ahead of Thursday's EU leaders summit and tweeted: "We will never sacrifice our future for the present. Access to our market comes with conditions." 

A senior EU source said Brussels would give no more ground and that if Johnson wanted a deal it was up to him to compromise. 

"The sticking point in the negotiations is the equivalence clause requested by the EU to avoid distortions of competition if the UK refuses to align itself over time with EU tax, social and environmental standards," he said. 

But a UK government source warned: "We must be realistic that an agreement may not be possible, as we will not compromise on reclaiming UK sovereignty." 

The source added, however: "If we can make progress at a political level, it may allow Lord Frost and his team to resume negotiations over the comings days."

On Thursday, EU leaders including Merkel and France's President Emmanuel Macron will be in Brussels for a two-day summit dominated by an EU budget dispute, but Johnson is not expected to meet them. 

In recent weeks, several member states, publicly led by France but representing several of the UK's closest neighbors, have expressed concern that Germany and Von der Leyen's European Commission have been too ready to compromise with London.

As London and Brussels attempt to create a new trading relationship, the separate and politically vexed issue of Northern Ireland has loomed in the background. Northern Ireland will also have the UK's only land border with the bloc from next year, and that border is meant to stay open as part of the 1998 peace deal that ended three decades of violence over British rule. 

Johnson also introduced the controversial UK Internal Market bill that would override the EU Withdrawal Agreement, which means London must respect Northern Ireland's unique status. 

Gove and European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic said an agreement had been made "in principle" on border arrangements. 

That breakthrough covers goods passing from the British mainland to the province, and onwards to the EU's single market via Ireland. 

As an outcome of this, London will cut three controversial clauses in the bill going through the UK parliament that would have denied Brussels a say in future trading arrangements between the province and Ireland. 

That could smooth the path for Johnson's trip after Germany's Europe minister, Michael Roth, pointedly demanded London restore "trust and confidence."