BRUSSELS, Feb 3, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – The EU and Britain will set the stage
for Brexit’s next bruising chapter on Monday, laying down their vision and
red lines for a post-divorce future following the UK’s dramatic exit from the
bloc.
After three years of fractious divorce talks, the next phase is promising
to be just as bitter with a combative Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisting
his country has nothing to prove to the EU now its 47-year membership of the
bloc is at an end.
The colliding visions of EU-UK relations will need to be hammered out at
an unprecedented pace with Johnson having flatly refused to extend the
negotiating period beyond the end of this year.
Until then, Britain has agreed to abide by the rules of EU membership, but
failing a deal, the two sides would fall on the most barebones of
relationships causing big shocks to the cross-channel economy.
– Britain is ‘better’ –
Europe’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier will propose his vision for a new
foundation for ties in Brussels, with trade the most pressing issue, while
Johnson will make his case in a speech in London.
According to the Prime Minister’s office, Johnson will come out swinging
against the EU, saying that Britain has no more reason to meet EU standards
on the environment or labour rights than the EU has to meet British ones.
“The UK will maintain the highest standards in these areas — better, in
many respects, than those of the EU — without the compulsion of a treaty and
it is vital to stress this now,” Johnson will say.
Brussels has repeatedly warned Britain that trade ties will depend on how
closely London adheres to EU standards — what is known as maintaining the
level playing field.
“There will be two conditions which will be very clear in this trade
agreement: we want an agreement on fisheries, which will be difficult, on
reciprocal access to waters and markets for British and French fishermen,”
Barnier told French broadcaster LCI on Sunday.
“And at the same time, in this trade agreement, we want an agreement on
the level playing field,” he added.
But Johnson’s government, ignoring the fears of big business, has promised
to break away from any edicts by Brussels.
This would deliver the “independence” promised by Brexiteers and leave the
way open for Britain to seal ambitious trade deals across the globe, most
notably with the United States.
“We’re not going to be aligning with EU rules, that’s not on the
negotiating table… it is not even in the negotiating room,” British Foreign
Minister Dominic Raab told the BBC.
“But we’ll want to cooperate and we expect the EU to follow through on
their commitment to a Canada-style free trade agreement,” he earlier told Sky
News.
This refers to the EU’s trade deal with Canada that Europeans consider
acceptable for the UK on tariffs and quotas, but too weak on provisions to
guarantee fair trade.
– ‘Nationalistic rhetoric’ –
British media said London was angered that the EU is beholden to an
arbitration process to guarantee fair trade that went beyond similar clauses
in trade accords with other countries.
Britain is especially angry that the provision would involve the European
Court of Justice, the EU’s highest court that became a rallying symbol of EU
over-reach for pro-Brexiteers.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar urged Britain against repeating past
mistakes by insisting on “rigid red lines” that “makes it hard to come to an
agreement”.
London should “tone down the kind of nationalistic rhetoric”, he said.
Barnier’s negotiating mandate will be discussed and approved by the EU’s
27 member states later this month with direct trade talks with London to
begin in early March.
Fishing access for European boats in British waters will be a key issue to
solve, even though both parties have promised to reach an agreement before
July 1.
Fishermen from eight member states, in particular France and Denmark, are
heavily dependent on British waters that account for 30 percent of sales of
French fishing crews.
Yet, “it so happens that the United Kingdom exports 75 percent of its
fishing production to the European Union”, Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le
Drian told French media.