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EU-UK trade negotiations are hanging by a thread. The British say they are ready for a Brexit without a deal, unless the EU’s attitude “fundamentally changes”.
In a statement recorded Friday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson reiterates that he is now ready for an extra-contractual situation.
– I note that we must prepare for January 1 with a system more like Australia’s, based on the basic principles of world trade, says the Prime Minister in his response to the EU leaders’ summit in Brussels.
– Of course, we are ready to discuss the practicalities with our friends in areas where much progress has already been made. But for whatever reason, it follows from the summit that unless the attitude fundamentally changes, they (the EU) do not want to offer this country the same conditions that they have given Canada, says the Prime Minister.
Johnson still doesn’t say frankly that negotiations on trade, fisheries and other forms of cooperation with the EU should now be suspended.
It gives the EU hope that it will be able to sew something in the coming weeks.
EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen says in an opening comment that the EU continues to work for a deal, “but not at any price.”
“As planned, our negotiating team will travel to London next week to intensify these negotiations,” von der Leyen wrote on Twitter.
https://twitter.com/vonderleyen/status/1317067827518574593
The UK formally left the EU on January 31 this year, but is subject to the transition rules until the turn of the year. If no new trade or similar agreements can be reached with the EU before then, in the worst case, a crisis situation awaits with sudden tariffs, bureaucracy and long lines at borders and ports.
From the EU side it is emphasized that everyone should prepare for the situation.
– We have a good preparation as a country in case there is no agreement, but it is clear that it would have negative consequences for companies and citizens, says Prime Minister Stefan Löfven (S) after the Brexit discussion of the leaders of the EU on Thursday.
The Prime Minister is still waiting for an agreement.
– It is important for growth and our jobs. Both sides must do their best here, Löfven says, as the EU summit instructed chief negotiator Michel Barnier to continue negotiations in the coming weeks.
It is clear that this would have negative consequences for companies and citizens
On the British side promises Boris Johnson that without a contract is not catastrophic.
– With a lot of courage and a lot of confidence in ourselves, we are preparing for the alternative. We will flourish as an independent free trade nation that controls our own borders, our fisheries and enacts our own laws, says Boris Johnson in London.
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