Put a tiger in the tank on Brexit, PM tells EU
Boris Johnson has called on the three EU presidents to put a “tiger in the tank” of Brexit talks and said he saw “no reason” why a deal could not be done next month. There was renewed optimism about the prospects of breaking the deadlock over fishing, the level playing field guarantees and the European Court of Justice. “The faster we can do this, the better,” the Prime Minister said after talks with the presidents of the European Commission, Council and Parliament.
BORIS JOHNSON has called on the three EU presidents to put a “tiger in the tank” of Brexit negotiations and said he sees “no reason” why a deal cannot be done in July.
There was renewed optimism in London and Brussels about the prospects of finally breaking the deadlock over fishing, “level playing field” guarantees and the European Court of Justice after a video call.
“I don’t think we are actually that far apart,” the Prime Minister said, “but what we need to see now is a bit of oomph in the negotiations.”
“The faster we can do this, the better. We see no reason why you shouldn’t get that done in July,” the Prime Minister said after hour long talks with the presidents of the European Commission, Council and Parliament.
“I said to the three presidents, put a tiger in the tank because it is very clear what the UK needs and our EU friends need,” Mr Johnson said after the meeting in which both sides renewed their commitment to striking a zero tariff, zero quota, free trade deal before the end of the year.
“Ready to put a tiger in the tank but not buy a pig in a poke,” tweeted Charles Michel, the president of the European Council, after the video call where the EU restated its red lines but said it was ready to go to every effort to break the impasse.
Mr Johnson did not set the three EU leaders a July deadline in the discussions, which were arranged to evaluate progress in the free trade talks.
With EU leaders distracted by the coronavirus crisis, diplomatic sources said a breakthrough was more likely to come in October, which would give MEPS time to ratify the deal, but admit the real deadline is one minute to midnight on New Year’s Eve. Both sides have agreed to an intensified schedule of talks in July and August.
However, Mr Johnson said: “I certainly don’t want to see this going on into the autumn and winter as perhaps in Brussels they would like. I don’t see any point in that so let’s get it done.”
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the commission, said EU fishermen needed the predictability of a longterm fishing deal rather than the annual negotiations over fishing opportunities favoured by Britain.
Mr Johnson told Mrs von der Leyen he understood the EU’S concerns but pointed out that a majority of UK fishing communities voted for Brexit and to take back control of British waters. “We’ve got to make sure our fishery communities around the country get advantage of [...] our fantastic marine wealth,” he said later. Mrs von der Leyen admitted that some of the EU’S demands over the level playing field guarantees were unprecedented.
The call for commitments that would prevent the UK from undercutting EU standards on tax, labour rights, environment and state aid are more stringent than similar commitments in the bloc’s trade deals with Canada and Japan. But the Commission president warned that unless the UK agreed to level playing field guarantees, which she said would also protect British businesses, the trade deal would never be ratified by the European Parliament or the EU member states.
“We can’t leave the EU and remain somehow controlled by EU law, that isn’t going to work, but there is a good deal to be done,” Mr Johnson said. He will today make a statement to the
Commons about Global Britain, in which he is expected to give an upbeat assessment of the UK’S future as an independent trading nation outside the EU. Part of the reason for conducting trade negotiations with countries like the US and Japan at the same time as dealing with Brussels is to put pressure on the EU to give Britain a good trade deal to avoid British money being spent elsewhere.
The talks about Britain’s post-brexit relationship with the EU are reaching a critical point. Boris Johnson yesterday held a video “summit” with Ursula von der Leyen, the commission president, amid signs that the two sides are digging in for another bout of the brinkmanship that has characterised this process.
The Prime Minister reiterated that there was no prospect of a request from the UK for an extension of the transition period beyond the end of this year to let talks continue. But this is a distraction. The issue is whether the two sides are capable of striking a deal at all, let alone by December 31.
The EU side still sees the UK as a recalcitrant member that needs to remain wedded to many of its laws and regulations, when the whole point of Brexit is to be free of the interference of Brussels. There is a question of good faith and fair dealing here which will require careful negotiations. Mr Johnson sounded hopeful, but time is running out.
Both sides want a trade deal. It will not suit Mr Johnson to fail to achieve one since he said it would be straightforward. It will not suit the EU either, given the economic importance of the UK market to economies trying to recover from the pandemic crisis. But in insisting on a “level playing field” as the condition for single market access, the EU needs to understand that the UK cannot have gone through the traumas of the past few years simply to end up as a satellite nation rather than an independent, sovereign country.
The arguments over Brexit are finished and the aim now is to achieve a mutually beneficial agreement that will ensure good relations in the years to come. That is a prize worth striving for, now more than ever.