Thursday, 28 Mar 2024

David Davis issues last warning to Brussels ahead of trade talks – ‘Remember EU need us’

David Davis issued a final warning to the European Union claiming the bloc would suffer greatly if no trade deal is agreed before the end of Brexit the transition period in December. The EU on Tuesday unveiled the negotiating mandate Michel Barnier was given, in which they urged the Government to sign up to a raft of EU regulations despite Boris Johnson calling for a complete break with Brussels’ rule system. Speaking to talkRADIO, the former Brexit Secretary said: “If it comes down we have no deal at all, well, so be it.

“It won’t hurt us anything like it will hurt them. And we have more money to deal with and we’ll have other options to go to.

“We’ll have other trade deals with the rest of the world. The EU has no upside in this game, we have upsides in this game.”

Mr Davis also hit out at Brussels for ruling out basing the future trade agreement with the UK on pre-existing deals the bloc already has with other third-country partners.

He continued: “We had this argument back and forth, saying, ‘look, we’re not going to undermine the single market,’ –  fair enough.

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“What we did is a 40-page document consisting of the best bits of every deal they’ve done with the rest of the world.

“The best bits of the Canada deal, best bits of the Japan deal, the best bits of the South Korea deal. Now, none of those could undermine the single market, could they?

“Because they had already agreed to them with somebody else. That’s what we should be aiming for.”

Brussels has been calling for Britain to agree to establish a so-called level playing field to avoid undue competition once the UK is no longer constricted by EU regulation from the end of 2020.

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EU leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel raised concerns Britain would become an economic competitor if allowed to diverge its standards while being allowed to maintain trade ties on the Continent.

But after receiving a copy of the EU mandate, the Prime Minister is believed to have reacted with fury at the demands the bloc included in the text on the use of EU regulation as a “reference point” for Britain after the transition period has concluded in December.

Mr Johnson’s spokesman said: “We will be taking back full control of our laws and our money January 1 next year.”

And in a swipe over the fishing issue, the spokesman added: “The UK didn’t vote twice to take back control of its fishing waters only to give that control up again.”

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Discussing the mandate received earlier this week, Michel Barnier said: “Let me remind you that most of the British processed fisheries products are traded, are exported, are sent to us, to the European market.

“So fisheries is part of a package as regards our trade relations, which are to be discussed, and that package is one you can’t break up. There will be no ambiguity at all around that.

“The trade agreement will be associated with a fisheries agreement and an agreement about a level playing field or there won’t be any agreement at all.”

The Prime Minister’s spokesman however hit back: “It doesn’t matter what the EU puts in its mandate as we become an independent coastal state on December 31, 2020.

“That means we automatically take back control of our waters and others’ right to fish in them under the UK convention of the law of the sea. This does not have to be negotiated nor will it be.”

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