4 yıl önce

UK: Brexit trade talks 'over' unless EU shifts

British PM Boris Johnson earlier said the EU has refused to negotiate seriously for an agreement on the future relationship between Brussels and London.

Reuters

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson in London, Britain on October 12, 2020.

Britain has said Brexit trade talks are effectively over unless the European Union shifts its position.

"As far as we're concerned, the trade talks are over. The EU has effectively ended them and only if the EU fundamentally shifts its position will it be worth talking," Prime Minister Boris Johnson's official spokesperson told reporters on Friday.

EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier has offered to come to London next week to continue talks, even as both sides remain deadlocked on key areas such as fishing and competition rules.

Johnson earlier accused Brussels of failing to negotiate seriously and, although leaving the door open, indicated he would slam it shut if there was no movement from the EU.

His spokesperson said the ball was now in the EU's court.

"It's over to the EU now. It can either fundamentally change position or we will leave on Australian terms, under which we will prosper," he added.

"There is only any point in Michel Barnier coming to London next week if he's prepared to discuss all of the issues on the basis of legal texts in an accelerated way without the UK being required to make all the moves ...

"If not, there is no point coming."

Australian terms

Australia has no comprehensive trade deal with the EU.

Johnson's Conservative government insists Britain can still thrive under those conditions, which would mean tariffs and other barriers between the UK and the EU, its biggest trading partner. But many economists say it would be devastating for many British businesses, which are already struggling with a huge economic hit from the coronavirus pandemic.

Britain officially left the EU on January 31 but remains part of its economic structures until December 31. The two sides have been trying to strike a deal on trade and other relations before then, and say in practice it must be agreed this month if it is to be ratified by year's end.

Despite Johnson's intransigent tone, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Friday that gaps between the two sides were narrow.

Raab said differences remained on only two issues: EU boats’ access to UK fishing waters, and “level playing field” rules to ensure fair economic competition between Britain and the bloc.

“The issues are really narrow now,” Raab said.

Months of talks have ground to a halt on the issues of fishing –highly symbolic for maritime nations on both sides – and rules to ensure common regulatory standards and fair competition. The EU fears the UK will gain an unfair advantage by slashing food, workplace and environmental standards and pumping state money into businesses once it is free of the bloc’s rules.

Britain accuses the bloc of seeking to impose demands that it has not placed on other countries it has free trade deals with, such as Canada.

“They want the continued ability to control our legislative freedom, our fisheries, in a way that is obviously unacceptable to an independent country,” Johnson said.

Germany and France seek to continue to talks

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she still believes it would be in both sides’ interest to have a deal.

“No one, neither Britain nor the EU, wants an agreement at any price,” she told reporters in Brussels. “We are prepared to continue negotiating. We have seen light but of course also still shadows in the most recent negotiations, and if it is up to the European Union – and me personally – we should simply continue these talks.”

French President Emmanuel Marcon said a deal “requires effort, particularly from the UK"

“Let’s keep in mind that it is the UK that wanted to leave the EU and needs an agreement much more than we do,” he said in Brussels.

Trust between the two sides, already frayed by years of Brexit acrimony, took a nosedive last month when Johnson introduced legislation that breaches parts of the withdrawal agreement he himself signed with the EU only last year.

The European Parliament, which must approve any deal, has vowed not to approve any trade deal if the UK government doesn’t withdraw this legislation.

Britain says the bill, which has yet to become law, is needed as an insurance policy in case the EU behaves unreasonably after Brexit.