Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Brexit brinkmanship: UK says no to more EU trade talks

Published 19/10/2020, 00:07
Updated 19/10/2020, 18:48
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: EU leaders summit in Brussels

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: EU leaders summit in Brussels

By William James and Philip Blenkinsop

LONDON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Britain sees no basis to resume trade talks with the European Union unless there is a fundamental change in approach from Brussels, chief negotiator David Frost said on Monday, dashing earlier optimism that negotiations could resume.

Earlier, Michael Gove, the minister overseeing Brexit, had said there was agreement on the need to intensify trade talks and work on legal texts, after the negotiations broke down last week.

The two sides are each pressing the other to move first in the high-stakes talks on a deal to protect billions of pounds worth of trade once Britain ends a status quo arrangement with the EU on Jan. 1.

A no-deal finale to Britain's five-year Brexit drama would disrupt the operations of manufacturers, retailers, farmers and nearly every other sector - just as the economic hit from the coronavirus pandemic worsens.

Frost said on Twitter he had held a constructive discussion with EU counterpart Michel Barnier, but added: "The EU still needs to make a fundamental change in approach to the talks and make clear it has done so. We will stay in close touch."

Earlier, Barnier tweeted that the EU remained available "to intensify talks in London this week, on all subjects, and based on legal texts".

Gove welcomed Barnier's message: "There has been a constructive move on the part of the European Union and... I prefer to look forward in optimism rather than necessarily to look back in anger."

Gove's words raised expectations that trade talks might resume, but a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson made clear that was not an immediate prospect.

The spokesman called for "an EU approach consistent with trying to find an agreement between sovereign equals and with acceptance that movement needs to come from the EU side as well as the UK".

NO BREAKTHROUGH AS YET

Negotiations broke down on Thursday, when the EU demanded Britain give ground,

In turn, Johnson said on Friday there was no point in continuing talks, saying Britain would "prosper mightily" without a trade agreement, or as the British government describes it: an "Australian-style" deal.

That would mean the United Kingdom trading on World Trade Organization terms, probably causing significant price rises.

Such a scenario would throw $900 billion in annual bilateral trade into uncertainty and could snarl border ports, turning parts of the southeastern English county of Kent into a vast truck park.

Gove, in parliament, repeated Britain's demands.

"We have to be in control of our own borders, our fishing grounds, we have to set our own laws. We have to be free to thrive as an independent free trading nation, embracing the freedoms that flow as a result," he told lawmakers.

© Reuters. A woman wearing a protective mask amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, takes a picture of the Olympic rings in front of the National Stadium in Tokyo

Brussels wants Britain to move on both fair competition guarantees, or the so-called level playing field, and on fisheries, which President Emmanuel Macron insists should offer more for the French side.

Latest comments

Johnson is surrendering to Barnier lol
get your facts right before you commet
Johnson cannot walk away hahaha.... he is now opening up to the negotiations lololol
rusdia 11th 6th is pretty good considering the size of the UK island
type error france 7th
it is not about positions but the worry UK slipping so quickly within one year a new government so what then happens incase no deal for UK should be willing to want a deal dont you agree than throwing a bluff for the majority of you here with your comments sound like instead brain dead and not very clever folks
Vejio where do you come from? Which EU stste are you from? Your name sounds like a Chez Repubic or maybe Hungary pr maybe Polinish for you are centainly not from one of the Western EU states that so you may not properly be grounded within the EU that also the case your constant dislike of the EU/ -can you tell us which EU state you are from? Saying you are from the EU is not enough- which EU state are you from Veijo Sinernva- it sounds polnish lol
Finland is a great country..... why would you relocate....
Barnier’s backdoor manhole will be like a tattered windsock once this is all over
Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.