EUROPEAN Union officials plan to give the UK a deal with tougher terms than those struck between the bloc and Canada or Japan.
The EU has begun taking an aggressive stance on trade as it ramps up for talks after Brexit.
The European Commission has warned EU states that the UK would not be able to freely trade their goods in the bloc unless they conform to EU standards, The Daily Telegraph reported last night.
Some EU member states were reported to have been surprised by the Commission’s hostile and unyielding position on the issue, according to an account of a meeting on January 10.
The move would mean that the UK would not have the same smooth access to the EU market that countries like Canada and Japan have in their trade deals with the bloc.
British medicine and car industries would be the most vulnerable sectors forced to take on EU regulations.
Two senior EU sources confirmed the approach the EU was taking.
Why would we rush into providing the UK a competitive edge to have the UK as an authorised testing lab on our shores? one EU diplomatic source told the paper.
It is part of an ongoing row between the EU and the UK over alignment, and having European regulations forced on Britain after Brexit.
EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen told Boris Johnson it would be “impossible” to seal a full trade deal by the end of the transition period on December 31.
She warned that the UK would have to agree to follow huge swathes of EU rules if its companies want “highest quality access” to Europe.
But Boris Johnson took her to task, promising he would not be extending the transition period and would not have EU rules forced on Britain.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Sajid Javid was equally uncompromising on Britain’s position, insisting earlier this week that the UK “will not be rule takers”.
“There will not be alignment, we will not be a ruletaker, we will not be in the single market and we will not be in the customs union – and we will do this by the end of the year,” he said.
The UK ramped up its efforts to secure a trade deal with the US, and is expected to publish its ambitions for a trade deal later this week.
President Donald Trump signalled his own enthusiasm for a “tremendous” UK-US deal with the “wonderful” Boris at the World Economic Forum in Davos yesterday.
said when she visited the UK earlier this month to meet with the PM that the UK would have to make “choices”.
The EU has warned they would only be able to negotiate a very basic trade deal by the end of the transition period on December 31.
The EU Commission have been dragging their heels on starting talks, claiming it could take until March to even publish what they want out of a deal.
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