Former top EU boss tells UK it will Brexit WITHOUT trade deal as member states DON'T CARE
A FORMER top eurocrat today told Britain it will be leaving the EU without a free trade agreement because Brexit is “not high on the political agenda” for remaining member states.
Herman Van Rompuy: The EU is still an innovative idea
Ex-European Council president Herman Van Rompuy insisted even negotiating Britain’s divorce from the bloc will be a “Herculean task” and two years to complete Brexit will “not nearly be enough”.
Mr Van Rompuy, famously compared to a “damp rag” by former Ukip leader Nigel Farage, claimed Britain had “lost friends” across Europe.
Revealing his expectation the UK will formally leave the EU in 2019 without a free trade deal - and with only “informal talks” on the basis of a new relationship having taken place - the former Belgian prime minister suggested a transitional arrangement for Britain beyond Brexit would be merely the “phasing out” of its EU membership.
He also dismissed talk of Britain being able to sign free trade agreements with non-EU countries on its departure day.
Brexit Secretary David Davis has regularly insisted both Britain’s exit agreement and future trading relationship with the EU can be negotiated and concluded within the two-year timeframe set out by Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, the legal mechanism for departure.
But, in a speech at Chatham House in central London this morning, Mr Van Rompuy claimed Brexit talks will be “lasting and difficult” with Britain having to first agree an exit bill with the EU, with Brussels believed to ready to demand as much as £50billion, before discussing a trade deal.
He said: “The negotiations will be lasting and difficult. No one knows how long but two years will not nearly be enough. There are no precedents.
“There is no such thing as a soft negotiation, certainly not on a ‘hard’ Brexit. Every partner will defend its interests.
“In the separation negotiation the UK and the EU27 will discuss the legacy costs of the exit even before a free trade agreement can be put on the table.
“The bill cannot be used as a bargaining chip in order to get a better trade deal. The purpose shouldn’t be to punish Britain and the EU27 cannot reward the leaver either.
“It takes two to tango.”
He added: “We will not be ready for our future relationship when the UK leaves, just ahead of the European elections of June 2019.
“The transitional arrangement will not be about the phasing in or implementing of a non-existent trade deal.
“In reality it will rather be a phasing out after [the UK] having left the EU and Single Market without a free trade agreement.
“The UK has to acknowledge that Brexit is not high on the political agenda on each of the 27 remaining member states.
“A lot of the countries are focussed on their national elections. But even in normal times Brexit comes after jobs, migration, terrorism, taxes on the priority list of national leaders.”
Nigel Farage insults Herman van Rompuy
The UK has to acknowledge that Brexit is not high on the political agenda on each of the 27 remaining member states.
Mr Van Rompuy described the election of US President Donald Trump as a “bigger concern for the EU citizens than Brexit”.
Despite admitting the EU would seek a “special relationship” with Britain on areas such as security, research and development, migration and combating terrorism, Mr Van Rompuy claimed discussions on these areas would follow behind initial divorce talks and then later trade negotiations.
He said: “We can only think about a more comprehensive relationship when we have agreed on trade and there’s a long way to go.
“The remaining 18 months after the triggering of Article 50 and the following European Council will mainly be devoted to the separation treaty.
“We can have at the same time informal talks about the outlines of a free trade agreement. But in my view real sectoral negotiations will only start after the UK has left.”
Recent research has suggested 35 countries are waiting to sign free trade deals with post-Brexit Britain.
Foreign Secretary has also told MPs the UK is at the front of the queue for a trade agreement with the US, according to President Trump’s top diplomat Rex Tillerson.
But Mr Van Rompuy claimed “no country will really engage with the UK” without Britain having first agreed its trading relationship with the EU.
He said: “Brexit necessitates a more global Britain to compensate for the losses of the European market. And you need many Indias… to replace the union.”
The former Brussels bureaucrat claimed both the EU and the UK needed to work to “restore trust” lost during the Brexit referendum campaign, as he appeared to take aim at Theresa May’s suggestion she could slash business taxes to undercut the EU if no Brexit deal is agreed.
Mr Van Rompuy said: “Threats are not impressive or impressing nobody but many can be shocked.”
He also insisted the remaining EU member states would remain united in the face of “external threats” such as Brexit, the election of President Trump and the activities of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Claiming “Brexit is not the template for further exits” from the EU by other member states, he urged EU leader to not “waste” the opportunity to push forward with greater integration over the next few years.