BRITAIN has set itself on a collision course with Brussels over its hoped-for trade deal after the UK Government’s chief negotiator made clear the point of Brexit was for a newly independent country to have the ability to diverge from the EU’s rules and regulations.
David Frost in a speech in the Belgian capital insisted all the UK wanted was what other independent countries had and to realise the EU’s desire to have a durable and sustainable relationship had to be based on a “relationship of equals”.
Speaking to students and academics at the Université libre de Bruxelles, Boris Johnson’s top Europe Adviser was due to say: “We bring to the negotiations not some clever tactical positioning but the fundamentals of what it means to be an independent country.
“It is central to our vision that we must have the ability to set laws that suit us; to claim the right that every other non-EU country in the world has.
“So, to think,” he argued, “we might accept EU supervision on so-called level playing field issues simply fails to see the point of what we are doing. It isn’t a simple negotiating position which might move under pressure; it is the point of the whole project.”
Mr Frost explained that was why the UK Government would not extend the transition beyond December of this year.
“At that point we recover our political and economic independence in full; why would we want to postpone it? In short, we only want what other independent countries have,” he declared.
But Brussels has repeatedly warned Britain it could not expect to enjoy continued "high-quality" market access if it insisted on diverging from EU social and environmental standards.
The UK’s chief negotiator referred to the Prime Minister’s speech of two weeks ago when he pointed out how Britain’s trading standards were often higher than those of the EU.
“How would you feel if the UK demanded, to protect ourselves, the EU dynamically harmonise with our national laws set in Westminster and the decisions of our own regulators and courts?” he asked.
Mr Frost argued such an approach would “compromise the EU’s sovereign legal order” and at some point “democratic consent would snap; dramatically and finally”.
His speech came hours after Jean-Yves le Drian, the French Foreign Minister and a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron, predicted a bruising battle on a post-Brexit deal, saying: “On trade issues and the mechanism for future relations, which we are going to start on, we are going to rip each other apart.
"But that is part of negotiations, everyone will defend their own interests," he added.
Earlier, the PM’s spokesman said Britain wanted a relationship based on “friendly co-operation between sovereign equals" and that this country was not asking for anything special or bespoke.
"We are seeking a deal that the EU has struck previously with other countries such as Canada," he added.
Downing Street made clear it was still seeking "quota-free, tariff-free" arrangements; even though Canada's deal does not eliminate all tariffs and quotas.
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