1 June 2020 | UK NEWS
Downing Street has said that the UK will not sign up to an unbalanced trade deal with the EU.
These comments were made in the light of this week’s round of Brexit negotiations, which will be the fourth in a series regarding the post-Brexit transition deal. There will also be a high-level summit at the end of the month, which has been touted as a ‘make or break’ event for the negotiations. The summit will be attended by Boris Johnson.
The EU’s Chief Negotiator, Michel Barnier, had put pressure on the UK negotiating team in a Sunday Times interview, claiming that the UK was failing to meet the commitments agreed between itself and Brussels. Barnier had stated: “The UK has been taking a step back – two steps back, three steps back – from the original commitments.
The UK negotiators need to be fully in line with what the Prime Minister signed up to with us. Because 27 heads of state and government and the European Parliament do not have a short memory. We remember very clearly the text which we negotiated with Boris Johnson. And we just want to see that complied with. To the letter. And if that doesn’t happen, there will be no agreement.”
Downing Street responded to the claims by saying that the “level playing field” on offer would restrict the UK’s ability to diverge from EU regulations regarding workers’ rights, environmental protection and state subsidies. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The political declaration sets out the potential scope of the future relationship. Both we and the EU signed up to it. Any agreement based on it has to be balanced and represent a balance of benefits to both sides.
“In relation to the level playing field, the EU has insisted on including a set of novel and unbalanced proposals which would bind the UK to EU law or standards or impose control over our domestic legal regimes.
“These proposals are unprecedented in free trade agreements and not set out in the Political Declaration. As soon as the EU recognises that we will not conclude an agreement on that basis, we will be able to make progress.”
Up to now, there have been reports that there has been little progress made in the talks. However, the Downing Street official said: “We hope this latest round is constructive and we hope that it will keep the process on track ahead of the high-level meeting later this month.”
The UK is currently set to leave the European Union on 31st December this year. We will bring you further updates on the progress of the negotiations as they come in.
