The UK government has dropped plans for full border checks on goods coming in from the EU from 1 January 2021 over fears of the economic impact of coronavirus. Ministers will unveil plans for Brexit borders on Friday afternoon that will represent a significant shift from the Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove’s declaration in February that border checks would be inevitable for “almost everybody” who imports from the EU from next year. Customs controls, whether there are tariffs or not, were expected in both directions of trade across the Channel, as well as regulatory and health checks. But ministers are now expected to adopt a more flexible approach on goods entering the UK to prevent the departure from the EU compounding the chaos from Covid-19. A government source said: “We recognise the impact that coronavirus has had on UK businesses, and as we take back control of our laws and our borders at the end of this year, we will take a pragmatic and flexible approach to help business adjust to the changes and opportunities of being outside the single market and the customs union.” The announcement is expected after a meeting of the EU-UK joint committee headed by Gove and the European commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic, which convenes for the second time on Friday. The committee was set up to implement and enforce the withdrawal agreement. Talks over trade and the UK’s future relationship with the EU have stalled, and Boris Johnson is to hold a virtual summit with EU leaders on Monday in an attempt to break the deadlock. He will meet Ursula von der Leyen, Charles Michel and David Sassoli, presidents of the European commission, council and parliament respectively. The UK and EU have agreed to an “intensified timetable” for the trade talks, which will involve a mix of formal negotiating rounds and smaller group meetings, both in London and Brussels. There will be negotiations each week for five weeks, beginning on 29 June – an accelerated timetable after meetings in the last round of negotiations took place every two to three weeks. The UK has said it will walk away from the talks if there is no sign of progress in July. This week, the paymaster general, Penny Mordaunt, who is Gove’s de facto deputy on Brexit implementation, said they would be telling the EU at the joint committee that the UK had no intention of availing of its legal right to a one-off request for an extension to the transition period, which ends in December. UK negotiators hope the Johnson and Von der Leyen summit will pave the way for a compromise, in the same way as the prime minister’s walk in the woods in the Wirral with the Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, led to a breakthrough on the Irish border last October. UK negotiators have said it is impossible to strike a deal with the EU under the present mandate of the bloc’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, and want him to be given new instructions that will accommodate compromise. The UK is looking for compromises on the jurisdiction of the European court of justice, demands for a level playing field on the environment, workers’ rights and state subsidies for companies. Senior negotiating sources have said if there is not progress in July, the UK is prepared to walk away, arguing that an autumn deal would be too late for the country to prepare for the full exit from the EU’s single market and customs union on 1 January. They say there is no halfway house on EU demands over the European court of justice, and the UK’s chief negotiator, David Frost, has described the EU’s approach to a fishing deal as a “non-runner”.