Boris Johnson in Brussels, October 18, 2019. – Nik Oiko / SOPA Images / Sipa USA /
The Prime Minister British Boris Johnson intends to notify Europeans on Monday of its unyielding intention to break the rules of the European Union after the Brexit, suggesting an intense showdown over their future business relationship.
Released Friday evening from the EU after 47 years of stormy membership, the United Kingdom must now redefine the modalities of its relationship with the European bloc reduced to 27, in terms of trade but also of security, fishing or education. And it only has an 11-month transition period that London is already refusing to extend.
Boris Johnson, great Brexit apostle, to present in a speech on Monday his vision of the UK’s place in the world, while the same day the EU negotiator Michel Barnier must detail its priorities. “There is no need for a free trade agreement that involves accepting EU rules in terms of competition, subsidies, social protection, the environment or otherwise, any more than the The EU should not be forced to accept certain British rules, “said the Prime Minister, according to extracts from his services. He must ensure that London wants to maintain high standards in these areas but “without this being imposed by a treaty”.
“We are taking back control of our laws”
According to the British press, the will of Downing Street is to harden the tone in front of Europeans who hammer the same message: if the British want an advantageous customs agreement opening the European market to its products, they will not be able to completely free themselves from Community standards and thus create a deregulated and unfair competitor at the gates of the Union.
“We are regaining control of our laws, not to align with European Union rules,” warned British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab on Sky News on Sunday morning. “I am sure that the EU will want to respect its commitment to a free trade agreement of the type concluded with Canada,” he added, seeing in this option the “best (agreement) of its category ”and an“ opportunity to obtain a result that is beneficial to all ”. Such an agreement would allow a flow of exchanges while renouncing the EU standards that Boris Johnson already mocked when he was a journalist in Brussels.
The conservative leader intends to warn the Europeans on Monday that in the absence of such a free trade agreement, the other solution would be an agreement such as that binding the EU to Australia, limited to certain sectors, the others remaining governed by the rules of the World Trade Organization (WHO). This would mean tariffs on many products, potentially very expensive for many sectors.
EU will not allow “harmful competition to take hold”
According to Sunday Telegraph, this tightening is due to “attempts by the European Union” to “change the terms” of the agreement negotiated in late October by Boris Jonhson, which made the Prime Minister “furious”. “Brussels has asked the UK to grant access to its fishing area, to align with European economic standards and leave its borders open to freedom of movement, “explains the Sunday Express.
Michel Barnier warned on French television channel LCI on Sunday that a fisheries agreement will be “inseparable” from the trade agreement to be negotiated. “There is no surprise, the British must not pretend to discover this constraint now,” he continued. More generally, French President Emmanuel Macron warned on Saturday that the EU would not allow “harmful competition to be established” with the ex-member state.
As it engages in a new showdown with the EU, after three and a half years of already difficult negotiations, the United Kingdom is looking for new partners, on the side of its historic American ally but also in Asia-Pacific . Dominic Raab announced on Sunday that he will travel to Japan and Australia next week to negotiate trade deals and explore “international” opportunities. On the other side of the globe, US President Donald Trump has for several months been dangling a “magnificent” bilateral trade deal with his historic ally. Its chief diplomat Mike Pompeo, visiting the United Kingdom on Thursday, insisted with London on the “enormous benefits” of their post-Brexit rapprochement.
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