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Boris Johnson has said that a no-deal outcome of the Brexit trade talks “looks very, very likely” ahead of Sunday’s deadline for a decision on the negotiations.
The prime minister, speaking on a visit to Blyth in Northumberland on Friday, suggested that a breakthrough in the stalled talks would need a “big offer, a big change” from the EU, but that he “hadn’t seen it yet.”
The prime minister and Ursula von der Leyen have set a Sunday deadline. Photo: Andrew Parsons / 10 Downing Street
Johnson described a Brussels demand for a “kind of ratchet clause” on so-called level playing field provisions, as well as the issue of fishing rights, as the two obstacles to the post-Brexit trade deal.
“It seems very, very likely that we will have to find a solution that I think would be wonderful for the UK, and we could do exactly what we want from 1 January,” the prime minister said.
“Obviously it would be different from what we had set out to achieve, but I have no doubt that this country can prepare and, as I say, come out on the terms of World Trade.”
Using the terms of the World Trade Organization for the UK’s future relationship with the EU would likely mean the imposition of trade tariffs in both directions.
Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen set Sunday as the deadline to decide whether a post-Brexit free trade deal, aimed at eliminating tariffs, will be possible.
Earlier on Friday, Ms Von der Leyen said the UK and the EU “remain separate on fundamental issues” following a two-day summit of EU leaders in Brussels.
Ms Von der Leyen spoke for less than 10 minutes about Brexit while addressing EU leaders
Ms Von der Leyen was said to have spoken for less than 10 minutes about the stalled negotiations when she addressed EU leaders at their meeting in the Belgian capital, with the summit’s focus primarily on other matters.
An EU official revealed that she had told the 27 leaders of the bloc that “the probability of a no-deal is higher than that of an agreement,” the Reuters news agency reported.
The pound fell a penny against the US dollar due to the latest Brexit events on Friday morning.
The British pound fell below $ 1.32 to hit its lowest level since mid-November, and also fell almost a penny against the euro to slide below 1.09 euros to reach its lowest level since September.
Speaking at a post-summit press conference, Ms Von der Leyen said that “positions remain separate on fundamental issues.”
On the level playing field commitments, the EU chief said that the bloc’s negotiators had “repeatedly clarified to our UK partners that the principle of fair competition is a precondition for privileged access to the EU market.”
Johnson has accused the EU, under the terms of a trade deal, of wanting the “automatic right” to punish the UK in the future, perhaps with tariffs, if it fails to comply with new EU laws.
Ms Von der Leyen said that the UK “will remain free, sovereign if it wishes, to decide what it wants to do”.
But he added that the EU “would simply adapt the conditions of access to our market in accordance with the UK’s decision, and this would apply in reverse.”
The European Commission president said the EU and the UK have also “not yet found the solutions to bridge our differences” on post-Brexit fishing rights.
“We understand that the UK aspires to control its waters,” he added.
“The UK must, on the other hand, understand the legitimate expectations of the EU fishing fleets, built on decades and sometimes centuries of access.”
Reiterating that there are now only two days for UK and EU officials to make a breakthrough, he added: “On these and other points our negotiators are working.
“We will decide on Sunday if we have the conditions for an agreement or not.”
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Minister: UK ‘90% of the way ‘on the Brexit deal
With the Brexit transition period ending on December 31, von der Leyen said at the press conference: “One way or another, in less than three weeks, it will be new beginnings for old friends.”
Downing Street did not deny that Johnson was rejected in his request for calls with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel about the stalled trade talks.
But Number 10 rejected suggestions that Ms Von der Leyen’s comments that the UK remains “sovereign” on a level playing field represent a new approach to the EU.
“I would say there is nothing new here,” said a Downing Street spokesman.
“Because they still say they would adapt the conditions they impose on us for access. And our position on sovereignty remains unchanged.”
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The European Commission on Thursday offered a series of short-term mini-offers in the event of a no-deal outcome of trade negotiations, with the aim of keeping planes flying, trucks moving, and allowing fishing boats to keep working.
However, this ran the risk of sparking a new fisheries dispute with Britain over the proposed one-year period for EU fishing vessels to continue to work in UK waters, on a reciprocal basis.
When asked in Brussels on Friday if this was akin to “having your cake and eating it,” Macron replied: “I’m not ordering my cake and eating it, no.
“All I want is a cake worth its weight. Because I won’t give up my part either.”
