LONDON/DUBLIN/BRUSSELS - As Brexit talks resumed in Brussels, Britain said on Monday its red lines remained unchanged but that it hoped to reach a trade deal with the European Union (EU) if the bloc chose to make progress.

There had been little movement in the talks on the most contentious areas - so-called "level playing field" fair competition rules and fisheries - last week when the two sides missed the latest mid-November deadline.

We really are in the last week to 10 days of this, if there is not a major breakthrough over the next week to 10 days then I think we really are in trouble and the focus will shift to preparing for a no trade deal and all the disruption that that brings.

Simon Coveney, Irish foreign minister

The United Kingdom left the EU in January but the sides are trying to clinch a deal that would govern nearly 1 trillion dollars in annual trade before transitional arrangements end on Dec 31.

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"Our red lines haven't changed and we're preparing for whatever the outcome is," Health Secretary Matt Hancock told Sky.

"Of course our preference is to get a deal and that is open to the Europeans if they choose to make the progress that's needed," he said.

While Brexit negotiators were still looking for mutually acceptable solutions to the three most contentious issues, a senior EU official said it might already be too late for the necessary ratification by the European Parliament even if Brexit negotiators nail down a deal this week or next.

"It's getting terribly late and may be too late already," said the official, speaking under condition of anonymity, adding that the 27-nation EU would decide next steps once the bloc's negotiator, Michel Barnier, and his UK counterpart, David Frost produce a deal, if at all.

Another EU diplomatic source said: "One cannot say things haven't moved, since the negotiators are writing a legal text together. So there is some movement. But also way to go still."

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Earlier, Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said in Dublin that Britain and the EU have a week to 10 days to find a way to unlock trade talks.

"We really are in the last week to 10 days of this, if there is not a major breakthrough over the next week to 10 days then I think we really are in trouble and the focus will shift to preparing for a no trade deal and all the disruption that that brings," Coveney told Ireland's Newstalk radio station.

We remain determined, patient, respectful. We want our future cooperation to be open but fair in all areas.

Michel Barnier, EU's Brexit negotiator

The European Parliament has previously said it could give the necessary consent at its last plenary meeting scheduled for this year on Dec 15-16 - if the lawmakers received a finished text of a trade treaty on Monday at the latest.

"We remain determined, patient, respectful. We want our future cooperation to be open but fair in all areas," Barnier said on Monday as he resumed talks with Frost.

EU sources also wondered if the upheaval this month in British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's inner circle - in which his top adviser and Brexit mastermind Dominic Cummings was ousted - was distracting London's attention. This, they said, may be making it harder for Frost to know exactly how far he could go towards a compromise to clinch a deal.

Johnson's Downing Street office said there had been no change to its Brexit strategy after Cummings' departure, and it reiterated its uncompromising line in a statement on Monday.

"The Prime Minister has been clear that we will not accept any proposals in the negotiations that undermine our status as a sovereign, independent country and if the EU don't respect the sovereignty of the UK we will leave on Australian terms and the Prime Minister is confident that we will prosper," it said.

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Britain's chief negotiator, David Frost, said that there had been some progress over recent days and that the two sides had common draft treaty texts though significant elements were yet to be agreed

British officials repeatedly say any deal must respect the country's sovereignty but the EU says the proximity of Britain to the bloc means Brussels cannot hand it a trade deal similar to those it has agreed with countries such as Canada.

Both sides have called on each other to shift position for the breakthrough needed to secure a deal and offer businesses clarity on what happens at the beginning of next year.

On Sunday, Britain's chief negotiator David Frost said there had been some progress over recent days and that the two sides had common draft treaty texts though significant elements were yet to be agreed.

"We may not succeed," Frost said. "We are working to get a deal, but the only one that's possible is one that is compatible with our sovereignty and takes back control of our laws, our trade, and our waters."

The 27 national EU leaders will hold a videoconference on Thursday to discuss their handling of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Should no Brexit agreement transpire by then, they are expected to focus again on preparations for a chaotic breakdown in trade at the end of 2020 when Britain's continued participation in the EU customs union and single market ends.

Should they fail to overcome their differences, the economic fallout would worsen the recession already wrought on Britain and the EU by the coronavirus pandemic this year.