Hammond tells EU: It takes two to tango

Spell out what deal you want, Chancellor demands

PHILIP Hammond last night warned the EU that it takes ‘two to tango’ as he told European leaders to stop trying to ‘punish’ Britain for leaving the bloc.

He challenged them to spell out what sort of trade deal they want – accusing them of deliberately remaining ‘silent’ in a bid to outfox the UK.

The Chancellor also warned Europe to stop believing that Britain could be ‘punished’, insisting that a deal would only be reached if they begin to fully cooperate.

Mr Hammond delivered the message to leaders during a high-level economic summit in Berlin yesterday in an attempt to call the EU’s bluff.

However, last night it emerged that Berlin was considering a plan to allow access to financial markets contingent on the UK agreeing to ongoing payments into the EU’s budget.

It was also reported that Angela Merkel’s government might insist that the UK accepts the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice if it wants a wide-ranging trade deal.

The two sides reached an agreement on the first stage of negotiations in December.

However, Brussels leaders have said that talks can only progress further once Downing Street spells out its trade plan. But in his speech yesterday, Mr Hammond said the EU approach was hypocritical as it had failed to offer any counter idea of what a future relationship might look like.

Mr Hammond told the EU that it ‘takes two to tango’ and said they must abandon ‘any narrative of “punishment” for leaving’.

‘Both sides need to be clear about what they want from a future relationship,’ he told the summit.

He added: ‘I know the repeated complaint from Brussels has been that the UK “hasn’t made up its mind” about what type of relationship it wants.

‘But in London, many feel that we have little, if any, signal of what future relationship the EU27 [remaining members] would like to have with a post-Brexit Britain.’

The Chancellor pointed to the ‘enthusiasm’ shown by non-EU countries such as the US to forge a trading arrangement with Britain.

In comparison, he said that the Brussels had maintained ‘ relative silence … on what the EU wants our future relationship to look like’ despite the close trading links. He

‘Drop idea of punishment’

added: ‘I fear that many EU opinion-formers see this as a question only for British politicians, for British voters to resolve, before they engage with the EU27.’

Mr Hammond said that the EU should ‘send a message’ to British voters. ‘That is my challenge to you,’ he said.

The message is likely to rankle with countries such as France and Germany, who are adamant that the UK should make the first move.

Brexit secretary Davis Davis also travelled to Germany yesterday for meetings with CEOs in Munich where he hoped to encourage a more positive approach to the second stage of talks.

The senior Tories issued a joint message at the start of the trip, telling the EU that it would expose itself to financial ‘risk’ by eliminating the City of London from a trade deal.

Reports that Germany will insist on a ‘cash for access’ agreement where bolstered yesterday as the European Commission said that the UK could feasibly pay in to the EU budget for years after Brexit.

EU Budget Commissioner Guenther Oettinger pointed to Switzerland’s agreement that sees large sums paid to the bloc.

Mr Hammond refused to deny this was an option yesterday when asked if UK banks could pay for continued EU access, saying: ‘We will talk about all of those things.’