EU demands fishing rights
London: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is setting out a tough opening gambit Monday in negotiations with the European Union, saying the UK 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. “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.” Australian-style trade would mean a panoply of new tariffs and other barriers between the U.K. and the EU, its near neighbour and biggest trading partner.
Across the Channel, chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier said the EU will link any access to its market for British products directly to the access that EU boats will be given to UK waters.
Barnier underscored the difficulties of the trade negotiations with Britain when he highlighted the small but emblematic fisheries industry, which was a key issue in the UK’s protracted Brexit divorce deal. (AP)
