The UK must “make up its mind” about which trade-offs it is willing to accept when it comes to striking a post-Brexit trade deal with the EU, Commission boss Ursula von der Leyen has warned.

The first round of talks, which took place in Brussels, ended last week with negotiators acknowledging there were serious gaps in what both sides wanted.

Today von der Leyen stressed that she felt an agreement was still possible by the end of the year – but noted the depth of relationship would be determined by the UK’s position.

“We want to be very ambitious, we want to have a very good relationship with our British friends,” she said. “It will be important that the United Kingdom makes up its mind. The closer they want to have the access to the Single Market, the more of course they have to play by the rules that are the rules of the Single Market.”

“If this is not the UK’s choice, they will be more distant and it will be more difficult to for the UK to access the Single Market. So it’s up to the United Kingdom within these negotiations to think about the trade-offs they want to take into account.”

Von der Leyen’s comments come after Downing Street has repeatedly and explicitly ruled out any suggestion that Britain would follow the rules of the Single Market, accepting the necessary friction that will bring to trade.

The UK’s chief negotiator David Frost recently ruled out any suggestion that Britain would follow EU laws after Brexit, saying this was the entire point of the referendum. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also been consistent on this point, not least in his speech given at Greenwich last month.

Speaking as she marked 100 days at the helm of the EU’s executive, the French politician said citizens want “more Europe” and urged member states to back the Budget as the only way to deliver this.