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The United Kingdom withdrew from the European Union on January 31. On the day of his departure, a transitional period of 11 months began, the main objective of which is to allow time to agree on the terms of the future bilateral relationship.
Above all, at the end of the transition period on December 31, the British government intends to reach a comprehensive free trade agreement with the EU.
However, Johnson said the other day: London sees October 15 as the deadline, and if no deal is reached by then, it sees no possibility of a free trade deal between the UK and the EU.
A Downing Street spokesman said the British prime minister had a telephone conversation with Angela Merkel on Sunday night, to whom he confirmed that the British government was seeking a deal, but what a case.
To this end, Boris Johnson said the leaders of the British and EU negotiating delegations needed to negotiate intensively.
A Downing Street spokesman in his briefing on Sunday night did not detail when British Chief David Frost and EU Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier will contact each other.
The latest and ninth round of negotiations on a future bilateral relationship ended on October 2, and no concrete announcements have been made since then for further official rounds.
In a statement after the end of the ninth round, David Frost said there was great disagreement on one of the most controversial issues, fisheries regulation. As drafted by the UK Head of Negotiations at the time, if the EU does not take a more realistic and flexible approach to this issue than it does today, there is a risk that these differences will be impossible to bridge.
A Downing Street spokesman told Boris Johnson in a Sunday night telephone conversation with the German Chancellor that while it would be beneficial to both parties to move forward in the next few days, London is ready to move to “Australian-style” trade terms. after the transition period. no agreement can be reached with the EU.
Australia and the EU have been negotiating a free trade agreement for two years, but currently do not have a separate bilateral trade agreement.
Indeed, the “Australian-type” terms of trade, regularly mentioned by the British government as options, would mean that trade between the UK and the EU would continue under the general rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO) from January , with tariffs in current trade without obstacles.
Cover image: Shgutterstock
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