Boris Johnson warned Brussels 'will not give in' to his demands to give UK good deal
BORIS JOHNSON was warned he is unlikely to pressure the European Union into giving up their demands due to bigger concerns than a no deal facing the bloc.
Brexit: Expert says Brussels 'cannot give in' to UK's concessions
Boris Johnson will embark on trade negotiations with the European Union on Monday after confirming the British Government is ready to walk away from the table in June if no progress is made. Both the UK and the EU have taken on a hard stance toward the negotiations, both urging the other makes huge concessions to ensure a Brexit trade deal is struck before the end of the transition period in December. But former Minister of State Norman Baker warned the Prime Minister not to expect Brussels to give in to his requests for a free trade agreement because of bigger concerns facing the bloc.
Speaking to RT UK, the former Liberal Democrat MP said: "They cannot give in on key matters. There are 27 of them and they cannot give in on key matters for them.
"If they do, they are worried other countries may follow suit and demand equally good deals.
"If we look at what’s happening across the EU generally, the last thing they want to do is give Britain a good deal.
"That would be to reward someone leaving the EU, which will not do."
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Mr Baker added: "So Britain, I don’t think the British Government will give in because they cannot political and the next 11 months are not about negotiating a deal, they’re about fixing the blame on the EU when it goes wrong."
Despite calls to learn from the Brexit lesson, the European Union has been facing increasing criticism from member states over the management of demands from the EU27 as well as plans for the future.
And last week, a new clash erupted when EU leaders failed to reach an agreement on the new proposed budget for the next seven years.
Trade talks with Britain are expected to cause further trouble to Brussels due to Britain's firm refusal to agree to create a level playing field to avoid undue competition for the remaining EU members.
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Senior EU leaders, including France’s Emmanuel Macron and Germany’s Angela Merkel, have raised concerns the UK would become an economic competitor if allowed to diverge its standards while being allowed to maintain trade ties on the Continent.
EU leaders on Tuesday provided chief negotiator Michel Barnier with their mandate for trade talks with the UK but the demands were quickly rejected by a furious Prime Minister.
Mr Johnson is understood to have reacted with fury after being presented with a shopping list of demands from Brussels, including calls for the Government to sign up to a raft of EU regulations and to grant free access to British waters to EU vessels.
The British Government warned the bloc it "will not negotiate any arrangements in which the UK does not have control of its own laws and political life".
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A crunch meeting to assess progress is scheduled for June, by which time it should be clear if the Canada-style free trade agreement that is wanted by the Prime Minister is possible by the end of 2020.
The negotiating guideline wants the "broad outline of an agreement" in time for this meeting, which would be "rapidly finalised" by September.
The document states: "If that does not seem to be the case at the June meeting, the Government will need to decide whether the UK's attention should move away from negotiations and focus solely on continuing domestic preparations to exit the transition period in an orderly fashion."
Speaking in the House of Commons, Michael Gove warned: "We want the best possible trading relationship with the EU, but in a pursuit of a deal, we will not trade away our sovereignty."
"We respect the EU's sovereignty, autonomy and distinctive legal order and we expect them to respect ours.
"We will not accept nor agree to any obligations where our laws are aligned with the EU or the EU's institutions, including the Court of Justice."