UK’S JOHNSON TELLS EU IF NO TRADE DEAL BY OCTOBER 15, ACCEPT AND MOVE ON

Mon 07 September 2020:

If no free-trade deal between the European Union and UK can be reached by October 15, both sides should “accept that and move on,” UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson will say on Monday.

It comes after UK chief negotiator David Frost said the UK is not “scared” of walking away.

The prime minister is due to say that time is running out to find a solution before 31 December, when the UK’s transition period ends. Although the UK left the EU on 31 January, it continues to follow some EU rules while the trade agreement is being negotiated.

Johnson will say there is no sense in thinking about timelines beyond October 15.

“If we can’t agree by then, then I do not see that there will be a free trade agreement between us, and we should both accept that and move on,” he will say, according to comments released by his office.

If no deal is agreed, Britain would have a trading relationship with the bloc like Australia’s, which would be “a good outcome”, Johnson will say.

“As a government we are preparing, at our borders and at our ports, to be ready for it,” he will say. “We will have full control over our laws, our rules, and our fishing waters.”

In that case, Britain would be ready to find sensible accommodation with the bloc on practical issues such as flights, lorry transport or scientific cooperation, according to the excerpts.

UK Brexit negotiator David Frost said on Sunday Britain was not scared of a no-deal exit at the end of the year.

Johnson will say there is still a deal to be had based on a standard free trade agreement if the EU is ready to rethink its current position.

“But we cannot and will not compromise on the fundamentals of what it means to be an independent country to get it,” he will say.

Another round of talks – the eighth – is due to begin on Tuesday.

On the eve of the negotiations, the UK is planning new legislation that will override key parts of the Brexit withdrawal agreement made last year.

The new bill would eliminate the legal force of arrangements over customs in Northern Ireland which had been designed to avoid a hard border with the Irish Republic.

It would also override provisions on state aid – the financial assistance sometimes given by the government to companies.

Government sources told the BBC that the legislation would be introduced this week, describing it as a “sensible fall-back option” in case negotiations break down.

They said it was “not intended to derail the talks”, but a key EU diplomat told the BBC it was “a self-defeating strategy” that could lead to the trade talks unravelling altogether.

The EU’s chief negotiator, Michael Barnier, has previously suggested the end of October is a “strict deadline” to finalise an agreement for next year.

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