British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is setting out a tough opening gambit Monday in negotiations with the European Union, saying the U.K. will walk away without a free-trade deal rather than agree to follow rules set by the 27-nation bloc.
Just 60 hours after Britain left the EU, the first country ever to do so, Johnson is digging in his heels about future relations. In a speech to business leaders and international diplomats in London, Johnson plans to say “we want a free trade agreement,” but not at any cost.
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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is setting out a tough opening gambit Monday in negotiations with the European Union, saying the U.K. will walk away without a free-trade deal rather than agree to follow rules set by the 27-nation bloc.
Australian-style trade would mean a panoply of new tariffs and other barriers between the U.K. and the EU, its near neighbor and biggest trading partner.
The bloc insists there can be no trade deal unless Britain agrees to a “level playing field” and does not undercut EU regulations, especially in areas of environmental protections, worker rights and health and safety standards.
It’s a message aimed as much at a domestic audience as it is a t the bloc, but EU leaders are unlikely to be impressed by what they’ll see as British intransigence and wishful thinking.
If there is no deal by the end of 2020, and the U.K. refuses to extend the negotiating period, Britain faces an abrupt, disruptive economic break from the bloc — with tariffs and other obstacles to trade imposed immediately between the U.K. and the EU.
“The choice is emphatically not ‘deal or no-deal,’” Johnson plans to say, according to extracts released by his office. “The question is whether we agree a trading relationship with the EU comparable to Canada’s – or more like Australia’s.”
Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, center, arrives for a cabinet meeting at National Glass Centre at the University of Sunderland, the city which was the first to back Brexit when results were announced after the 2016 referendum, in England, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. Britain officially leaves the European Union on Friday after a debilitating political period that has bitterly divided the nation since the 2016 Brexit referendum. (Paul EllisPool photo via AP)
Australian-style trade would mean a panoply of new tariffs and other barriers between the U.K. and the EU, its near neighbor and biggest trading partner.
In their divorce agreement, Britain and the EU agreed to strike an “ambitious, broad, deep and flexible partnership,” including a free trade deal and agreements for security and other areas. They gave themselves 11 months to do it. A post-Brexit “transition period,” in which relations stay essentially unchanged, runs until the end of 2020. For the rest of this year the U.K. will continue to follow EU rules, although it will no longer have a say in EU decision-making.
Britain says it wants a “Canada-style” free trade agreement with the EU covering both goods and services. But it is adamant it won’t agree to follow the EU’s entire r ule book in return for unfettered trade, because it wants to be free to diverge in order to strike other new deals around the world.
European Union chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier arrives for a media conference outside of the Parlamentarium in Brussels, Friday, Jan. 31, 2020. The U.K. is due to leave the EU on Friday the first nation in the bloc to do so. (AP PhotoOlivier Matthys)
The bloc insists there can be no trade deal unless Britain agrees to a “level playing field” and does not undercut EU regulations, especially in areas of environmental protections, worker rights and health and safety standards.
Johnson intends to double down on Britain’s tough stance.
“There is no need for a free trade agreement to involve accepting EU rules on competition policy, subsidies, social protection, the environment, or anything similar, any more than the EU should be obliged to accept U.K. rules,” he will say. “The U.K. 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.”
A ferry leaves on the morning after Brexit took place at the Port of Dover in Dover, England, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020. If you thought the drawn-out battle over the U.K.'s departure from the European Union was painful, wait until you see what comes next. While Britain formally left the EU at 11 p.m. local time Friday, the hard work of building a new economic relationship between the bloc and its ex-member has just begun. (AP PhotoMatt Dunham)
It’s a message aimed as much at a domestic audience as it is a t the bloc, but EU leaders are unlikely to be impressed by what they’ll see as British intransigence and wishful thinking.
EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier is due to publish the bloc’s draft negotiating guidelines on Monday. Formal talks won’t start until next month, once they have been approved by the remaining 27 EU nations.
EU leaders have repeatedly warned that the timetable is tight to strike any kind of deal. Free-trade agreements typically take years. The EU-Canada deal that the British government cites as a model took seven years to negotiate.
The first light of dawn breaks on the Palace of Westminster from the south side of the River Thames in London, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020. Britain officially left the European Union on Friday after a debilitating political period that has bitterly divided the nation since the 2016 Brexit referendum. (AP PhotoAlastair Grant)
If there is no deal by the end of 2020, and the U.K. refuses to extend the negotiating period, Britain faces an abrupt, disruptive economic break from the bloc — with tariffs and other obstacles to trade imposed immediately between the U.K. and the EU.
That prospect alarms many businesses, especially in sectors such as the auto industry, which depend on the easy flow of parts across borders.
Follow AP’s full coverage of Brexit and British politics at: https://www.apnews.com/Brexit
Dawn's first light breaks in Parliament Square with the statue of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill looking toward the Palace of Westminster in London, Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020. Britain officially left the European Union on Friday after a debilitating political period that has bitterly divided the nation since the 2016 Brexit referendum. (AP PhotoAlastair Grant)
MADRID (AP) — British and Spanish foreign ministers said a new round of talks held Friday over the status of the disputed territory of Gibraltar following Britain’s exit from the European Union were productive and significant progress was made.
The meeting was between Spain's José Manuel Albares, Britain’s David Cameron and European Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic in Brussels. Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo also attended. It was the first time representatives from the four areas had come together for talks on the issue.
In a statement after the meeting, the parties said "discussions took place in a constructive atmosphere, with significant progress achieved.
“General political lines have been agreed (on), including on airport, goods and mobility. Negotiations will continue over the coming weeks to conclude the EU-UK Agreement,” it added.
All sides are eager to clinch a deal before European elections in June.
Britain left the European Union in 2020 with the relationship between Gibraltar and the bloc unresolved. Talks on a deal to ensure people and goods can keep flowing over the Gibraltar-Spain border have made halting progress in the 19 rounds of negotiations so far, but both Spanish and U.K. officials have recently expressed optimism about a deal.
In Britain’s 2016 Brexit referendum, 96% of voters in Gibraltar supported remaining in the EU. The tiny territory on Spain's southern tip depends greatly on access to the EU market for its 34,000 inhabitants.
Gibraltar was ceded to Britain in 1713, but Spain has maintained its sovereignty claim ever since. Relations concerning the Rock, as it is popularly referred to in English, have had their ups and downs over the centuries.
A major sticking point has been who controls Gibraltar’s airport, which under the proposed free-movement deal would be an external border of the EU. The U.K. and Gibraltar have resisted Spain’s insistence that Spanish border officials be based at the airport, which is also home to a Royal Air Force base.
The British Foreign Office said Thursday that while it did not expect a final agreement Friday, "getting senior political figures from the UK, European Commission, Spain and Gibraltar in one room is significant.”
Associated Press writer Jill Lawless reported from London.
Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo speaks with the media outside EU headquarters in Brussels, Friday, April 12, 2024. British and Spanish foreign ministers are scheduled to meet Friday with a top European Commission official for another round of negotiations over the status of the disputed territory of Gibraltar following Britain's exit from the European Union. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo stands outside EU headquarters in Brussels, Friday, April 12, 2024. British and Spanish foreign ministers are scheduled to meet Friday with a top European Commission official for another round of negotiations over the status of the disputed territory of Gibraltar following Britain's exit from the European Union. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo speaks with the media outside EU headquarters in Brussels, Friday, April 12, 2024. British and Spanish foreign ministers are scheduled to meet Friday with a top European Commission official for another round of negotiations over the status of the disputed territory of Gibraltar following Britain's exit from the European Union. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo, center, walks with his delegation outside EU headquarters in Brussels, Friday, April 12, 2024. British and Spanish foreign ministers are scheduled to meet Friday with a top European Commission official for another round of negotiations over the status of the disputed territory of Gibraltar following Britain's exit from the European Union. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo speaks with the media outside EU headquarters in Brussels, Friday, April 12, 2024. British and Spanish foreign ministers are scheduled to meet Friday with a top European Commission official for another round of negotiations over the status of the disputed territory of Gibraltar following Britain's exit from the European Union. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
Spain's Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares Bueno speaks with the media outside EU headquarters in Brussels, Friday, April 12, 2024. British and Spanish foreign ministers are scheduled to meet Friday with a top European Commission official for another round of negotiations over the status of the disputed territory of Gibraltar following Britain's exit from the European Union. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
Spain's Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares Bueno, right, walks outside EU headquarters in Brussels, Friday, April 12, 2024. British and Spanish foreign ministers are scheduled to meet Friday with a top European Commission official for another round of negotiations over the status of the disputed territory of Gibraltar following Britain's exit from the European Union. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
Spain's Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares Bueno speaks with the media outside EU headquarters in Brussels, Friday, April 12, 2024. British and Spanish foreign ministers are scheduled to meet Friday with a top European Commission official for another round of negotiations over the status of the disputed territory of Gibraltar following Britain's exit from the European Union. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
Spain's Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares Bueno speaks with the media outside EU headquarters in Brussels, Friday, April 12, 2024. British and Spanish foreign ministers are scheduled to meet Friday with a top European Commission official for another round of negotiations over the status of the disputed territory of Gibraltar following Britain's exit from the European Union. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
Spain's Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares Bueno speaks with the media outside EU headquarters in Brussels, Friday, April 12, 2024. British and Spanish foreign ministers are scheduled to meet Friday with a top European Commission official for another round of negotiations over the status of the disputed territory of Gibraltar following Britain's exit from the European Union. (AP Photo/Omar Havana)
FILE - Aerial view of Gibraltar rock taken from the neighbouring Spanish city of La Linea, on Oct. 17, 2019. British and Spanish foreign ministers are to meet in Brussels on Friday April 12, 2024 in a bid to take a giant leap forward on talks over the status of the disputed territory of Gibraltar following Britain's exit from the European Union. All sides are eager to clinch a deal before European elections in June which could set the clock back. Britain left the European Union in 2020 with the relationship between Gibraltar and the bloc unresolved. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo, File)
FILE - People walk past a Brexit information office at the British territory of Gibraltar, on Jan. 31, 2020. British and Spanish foreign ministers are to meet in Brussels on Friday April 12, 2024 in a bid to take a giant leap forward on talks over the status of the disputed territory of Gibraltar following Britain's exit from the European Union. All sides are eager to clinch a deal before European elections in June which could set the clock back. Britain left the European Union in 2020 with the relationship between Gibraltar and the bloc unresolved. (AP Photo/Javier Fergo, File)
