MEPs question prime minister’s goal of the UK-EU trade deal

The current transition arrangements expire at end of 2020

Senior MEPs have dismissed as “impossible” Boris Johnson’s call for a post-Brexit trade deal to be agreed next month and accused the UK of an “unacceptable” attempt to cherry pick the benefits of European Union membership from outside.

Following talks with Brussels on Monday, the prime minister called for a deal to be concluded by the end of July, urging the EU to “put a tiger in the tank” and step up efforts to secure an agreement.

MEPs voted overwhelmingly in favour of a resolution which regretted a lack of real progress in talks so far and highlighted the substantial differences that remained between the two sides.

Major stumbling blocks included the “level playing field”– conditions Brussels demands to ensure fair competition by keeping the UK closely tied to EU standards on workers’ rights, the environment and state subsidies – and fishing rights. The current transition arrangements expire at the end of the year and MEPs urged the EU to step up planning for a no-deal scenario on January 1.

Senior figures on both sides have said the latest a deal could be reached in order to be ratified is the end of October.

David McAllister, who leads the European Parliament’s UK Coordination Group, said: “Let’s put some tiger in the tank but we need to know in which direction the car should drive.

“I’m still hoping the car, in the end, will drive towards an agreement.”

The German MEP, an ally of chancellor Angela Merkel, said: “We hope for the best but, in parallel, we need to step up our no-deal preparations.

“The European Parliament will not agree to a deal at any cost.”

The EU’s ambassador to the UK also said the end of October was the deadline for a deal.

Asked if an outline deal could be done by July, Joao Vale de Almeida said: “I think that speed is good. We need to accelerate.

“We need to use every week and every month to try to find a deal.

“But when you drive a car and you speed too much, you can risk falling out of the road, so you need to be careful.

“Because the purpose is not to go fast, the purpose is to get to the destination.”

“Let’s put some tiger in the tank but we need to know in which direction the car should drive. DAVID MCALLISTER