The PM’s posturing and fighting stance could upset trade talks before they’ve even begun
The tears of joy and sadness seen on Brexit Day had barely dried before the UK and EU were at each other’s throats again ahead of trade talks set to last until the end of the year.
Yesterday, both the UK and EU set out their negotiating positions, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson blithely stating that there was “no need” for Britain to accept EU rules as part of a free trade agreement, and if the EU won’t budge and give the UK a Canada-style free trade agreement, Britain could walk away.
“There is no need for a free trade agreement to involve accepting EU rules on competition policy, subsidies, social protection, the environment or anything similar, any more than the EU should be obliged to accept UK rules,” the Prime Minister said.
Meanwhile in Brussels, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier stated practically the opposite: that while the EU wants an “highly ambitious” trade deal with UK, with zero tariffs or quotas on all goods, such an offer was reliant on the UK agreeing to open and fair competition in the long term to ensure a “level playing field”.
But no need to fear, everyone. Johnson also said yesterday that the UK will prosper whatever trade deal it gets, likening the country to a “supercharged” free-trade superman, while at the same time promising that Britain would not engage in some “cut throat race to the bottom” with the EU to undermine its economy.
Rules, rules, rules
Expect more of the same for the next 11 months. In fact, the UK had barely exited through the EU’s gift shop this weekend when it started talking tough about the future relationship it was going to have with the bloc. This is just the spirit of goodwill and diplomacy that you want to see ahead of any negotiating process.
British foreign minister Dominic Raab insisted on Sunday that the UK had learned from negotiating the Brexit divorce deal, in which red lines were drawn then eventually crossed out in desperation, but then proceeded to say that following EU rules after 2021 “just ain’t happening”.
Raab was duly accused of “saber-rattling” and of making “puerile” comments by shadow chancellor John McDonnell, while the Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar called on the UK to dial down the “nationalist rhetoric”.
The latter added that trade talks might get off to a better start if they did “not repeat some of the errors that were made in the last two and a half years”.
“Let’s not set such rigid red lines that makes it hard to come to an agreement, and let’s tone down the kind of nationalistic rhetoric,” Varadkar told the BBC.
The British government appears to have dug its heels in already and trade talks have not yet even begun (they are not expected to begin in earnest until March).
Johnson has talked of “unleashing Britain’s potential” post-Brexit, but the government’s current negotiating stance and dogmatic attitude could risk doing the opposite.
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Main image credit: Getty