LONDON — The U.K. Cabinet strongly feel the EU’s proposed trade deal is not one Britain can accept, the British prime minister said Thursday.
In a TV clip, Boris Johnson said there is now a “strong possibility” that the U.K. and the EU will trade on World Trade Organization terms from January 1, 2021, rather than agreeing a free-trade agreement.
“I do think we need to be very, very clear, there is now a strong possibility — a strong possibility — that we will have a solution that is much more like an Australian relationship with the EU than a Canadian relationship with the EU,” he said.
The clip was released shortly after a meeting of his Cabinet this evening, in which Johnson told ministers it was time for the U.K. to prepare for a no-deal outcome. He said Cabinet agreed “very strongly” with him that “the deal on the table is really not at the moment right for the U.K.”
Earlier, the European Commission released contingency measures for fisheries and transport from January 1, amid concern time for a deal is running out and the EU must prepare for all scenarios.
Johnson argued the EU had brought back the idea the U.K. would match the EU’s rules and standards, which Britain cannot sign up to. The EU feels this is necessary to ensure post-Brexit Britain will not undercut the single market.
“And it was put to me that this was kind of, a bit like twins. The U.K. is one twin, the EU is another, and if the EU decides to have a haircut, then the U.K. has got to have a haircut or else face punishment,” Johnson said.
“Or if the EU decides to buy an expensive handbag, then the U.K. has to buy an expensive handbag too or else face tariffs … Clearly, that is not the sensible way to proceed and it’s unlike any other free-trade deal. It’s a way of keeping the U.K. kind of locked in the EU’s orbit, in their regulatory orbit,” he added.
The prime minister said he has instructed the U.K. negotiators to keep trying to reach common ground with the EU, adding that he is willing to travel to Brussels, Paris and Berlin in his pursue of a trade deal with the bloc, but Downing Street confirmed no meetings with EU leaders are booked to date.
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