EU tells Johnson to expect legal fight
U.K. refuses to scuttle plans that violate pact
BRUSSELS — Britain entered a crucial week of post-brexit talks with the European Union on Monday by rejecting the EU’S demand that it drop plans to breach the legally binding agreement it signed on its departure from the bloc. The EU told British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to brace for a legal fight.
The EU insisted that abiding by every last detail of the international treaty that regulated the U.K.’S departure on Jan. 31 was key to maintaining trust and hopes of salvaging a rudimentary trade deal in the next few weeks.
After a short meeting between the two sides in Brussels, U.K. Brexit planning minister Michael Gove said Britain wouldn’t withdraw its Internal Market Bill, which includes clauses to override parts of the Brexit withdrawal treaty.
“Those clauses will remain in that bill” as a safety net in case the U.K. and the EU don’t reach a trade agreement, Gove said.
The EU renewed its threat to take legal action if the U.K. doesn’t drop the bill, which is passing through Parliament.
“We are considering all legal options available to us,” European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said.
The rift means that talks between the two sides’ trade negotiators will begin Tuesday under an ominous cloud. Britain and the 27-nation bloc have just weeks to strike a deal before a post-brexit transition period runs out on Dec. 31.
Both sides stand to lose hundreds of thousands of jobs and a big chunk of their income if they fail to find a compromise agreement. Yet Brussels and London have been digging in their heels, both vowing not to compromise on key issues.
Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said Monday that his government “is preparing its budget in three weeks’ time on the basis that there will be a no-deal Brexit.”
Martin said Johnson’s attempt to pass a law that violates the legally binding EU-U.K. divorce agreement had “eroded trust.”
If it becomes law, Johnson’s Internal Market Bill will give the U.K. the power to disregard part of the Brexit withdrawal treaty dealing with trade to and from Northern Ireland, which shares a 300-mile border with EU member Ireland.