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Johnson did not intend to abide by the EU’s negotiating terms and said Brussels would now have to turn to London itself if it wanted to continue negotiations.
The Prime Minister said that even if this did not happen, the country would be ready for it. According to him, a “significant change of course” is needed by the community, and if that happened, he would be willing to listen to the EU’s position, writes theguardian.com.
Johnson says the UK wanted a Canadian-style deal from the start, but that won’t be the case at the European Union summit. The British prime minister is outraged that Brussels wants to control the UK in ways unacceptable to London, and emphasizes that he will now have to make his own decision. According to the politician, since the Canadian version of the agreement has fallen, the UK should prepare for the result Australian-style, as should the companies. Delfi recalls that the EU does not have a valid trade agreement with Australia and trades in accordance with WTO rules.
According to Johnson, the EU does not want to negotiate with Britain the type of trade agreement it has with Canada and what the UK wants.
Johnson spoke in response to EU leaders who said at a summit in Brussels that the UK needed to change its position to make a deal possible.
The UK has threatened to withdraw from the negotiations if no agreement is reached by the end of the EU summit. The meeting ends on Friday.
Johnson has not yet suspended the talks, but said the EU appears to have already “abandoned” the idea of a deal. According to him, London will see if the “attitude of Brussels has changed significantly”.
“From what I can see, they have abandoned the idea of a free trade agreement … If the approach does not fundamentally change, we will seek an Australian solution,” he said in London.
Australia does not have a full trade agreement with the EU.
The UK pulled out of the EU on January 31, but until December 31, when Britain withdraws from the single market and the EU customs union, the UK is bound by the bloc’s rules. If no trade deal is reached, the UK and the EU would go back to trading under the auspices of the World Trade Organization, which would mean higher quotas and tariffs.
EU negotiators will travel to London to “intensify” negotiations
European Commission President Ursula von der Lajen said on Friday that European negotiators would be in London next week to try to persuade the British to continue negotiations on new trade relations, despite threats from Britain. to withdraw from the conversations.
“As planned, our negotiating team will travel to London next week to intensify these talks,” Von der Leyen said on Twitter.
An EU source said the UK had agreed to continue negotiations.
Earlier, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab blamed the EU for its tone, but said the gap between the two countries was small.
“It is necessary to reach an agreement, but flexibility is needed on both sides,” he told the BBC. “The European Union seems to be missing a bit.”
According to Raab, the disagreements remained on just two issues: the ability of EU vessels to operate in UK fisheries and fair economic competition between the bloc and British rules.
“The disputes are really small at the moment,” Raab said.
“We have to make compromises”
The two sides are trying to conclude an initial free trade agreement and prevent Britain’s withdrawal on January 1 “without a treaty”, which would affect businesses and jobs in both the UK and the EU, increasing the economic impact of the coronavir pandemic.
However, months of negotiations have stalled on fisheries issues of great symbolic importance to maritime states on both sides, as well as on common regulatory standards and rules of fair competition. The EU fears that the UK, which is no longer bound by the bloc’s rules, will gain an unfair advantage by lowering food, labor and environmental standards and injecting public money into business.
London was offended by the EU’s tone on Thursday night. UK chief negotiator David Frost wrote on Twitter with surprise that only the UK has to make concessions. According to Frosto, “this is an unusual way to negotiate.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, a veteran diplomat, tried to quell the anger.
“We have asked the UK to remain willing to commit to the deal. Of course, that also means we do. [irgi] we have to make compromises, ”he said.
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier also said that EU negotiators were “ready to intensify negotiations”, although Frost said in a Twitter message that EU leaders “were no longer committed to working” intensively. “to achieve a future partnership.
Trust between London and Brussels was undermined by legislation proposed by Johnson last month in violation of part of the withdrawal agreement the Prime Minister himself signed with the EU last year.
The European Parliament has vowed not to pass any trade deal unless the UK government repeals the law. London, for its part, says the legislation, which has yet to be finalized, is needed to secure it if the EU behaves unreasonably after Brexit.
No glare
In response to a warning issued at the EU summit, UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: “We are all disappointed and surprised by the [Vadovų] City Hall. “
“We have been told that it is the UK that must make all the commitments in the coming days. This cannot be correct during the negotiations,” he told Sky News.
Speaking to BBC Radio, Raab added: “An agreement needs to be reached, but flexibility, energy and goodwill are needed from both sides, and the Prime Minister [vėliau penktadienį] I’ll say more. “
EU leaders meeting in Brussels on Thursday demanded that Britain commit to fair trade rules to break the deadlock in post-Brexit trade relations. However, Michel Barnier, the Community’s chief negotiator, tried to ease the pressure and proposed new meetings in London next week.
Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said that EU leaders had given Barnier “the flexibility to continue negotiations … to ensure a fair and comprehensive free trade agreement.”
“This is how we would like to see more developments now and in the future … to reach this result,” he told reporters in Brussels.
The demand by France and other Nordic countries that the EU maintain its access to British waters was another major obstacle in trade relations negotiations.
Johnson said the summit should become the deadline for a deal, but the prime minister is also under pressure to say that British companies are far from ready for a sudden change in trade relations if the deal is not reached by end of the Brexit transition on December 31. day.
If no deal is reached, the UK and the EU would go back to trading under the auspices of the World Trade Organization, which would mean higher quotas and tariffs.
Both parties claim to be prepared for this. According to them, this scenario would be more acceptable than a bad deal, but experts predict that it could have serious consequences for the economy.
Europe is most concerned about three points: agreeing on rules for fair competition, establishing a mechanism to monitor compliance with these rules, and giving EU fishermen access to British waters.
Britain wants to ensure sovereignty in its waters and does not agree that the EU should exercise legal oversight over a future trade deal. London says it wants a simple trade deal similar to the one the EU has signed with Canada.
However, Brussels maintains that the British economy is much more closely tied to the EU than Canada and that, as a member of the Community, Britain can no longer reap the full benefits of the EU single market.
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