The newly elected president of the European Commission says that she is ready “for a further extension of the withdrawal agreement”.

Speaking to MEPs, Ursula Von der Leyen said that she wanted the UK to remain an ally of the EU after Brexit.

Resistance

There has been strenuous resistance to date from Brussels over the issue of extending the withdrawal agreement and Von der Leyen’s comments were met with disdain from some MEPs.

She added the caveat that an extension would only be considered in the right circumstances.

The German is the first woman to be elected to the position of Commission president and was previously the German defence minister.

She replaces current Commission president Jean Claude Juncker.

Green law

Von der Leyen has vowed to introduce a green law within the first 100 days of office which will make a 2050 climate target legally binding.

This will involve introducing the first ever European climate law and include the introduction of a carbon border tax.

“Emissions must have a price that changes,” she said.

“To complement this work, and to ensure our companies can compete on a level playing field, I will introduce a carbon border tax to avoid carbon leakage.”