It’s reported that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is prepared to set an October 15 deadline for a deal with EU after the Brexit transition. Or, the UK and EU should both accept that there won’t be a free trade agreement and “move on”. A no-deal would means “having a trading agreement with the EU like Australia’s” using WTO protocols, and “that would be a good outcome” for the country.
Foreign Minister Dominic Raab warned that this week is “a wake-up call for the EU”, adding “the EU’s best moment to strike a deal is now.” Fisheries and state aid rules are “the only two points holding us back”. “All the UK is asking for it to be treated like any other country in free trade negotiations,” he said. “No other country would accept being bound by or controlled by the EU’s rules.”
UK’s chief negotiator David Frost told The Mail on Sunday: “We are not going to accept level playing field provisions that lock us in to the way the EU do things; we are not going to accept provisions that give them control over our money or the way we can organise things here in the UK and that should not be controversial – that’s what being an independent country is about, that’s what the British people voted for and that’s what will happen at the end of the year, come what may”.
Separately, the Financial Times also reported that the UK government is planning legislation that would override key parts of the Withdrawal Agreement. The sections of internal market bill to be published on Wednesday would “eliminate the legal force of parts of the withdrawal agreement” in areas including state aid and Northern Ireland customs.
