By ‘Little optimism’ as Sunday deadline treated as point of finality for Brexit trade talks
Foreign Secretary, Dominic Raab, has stated that Sunday will be a “point of finality” for Brexit trade talks if the EU does not move substantially in negotiations.
With just 22 days to go, Prime Minister Boris Johnson shared a three-hour dinner with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday night in the hopes of breaking months of deadlock.
Mr Raab suggested that this is now being treated as a hard deadline by the UK government, by which they will decide whether a free trade agreement is still possible.
He admitted:
“I think we view it as a point when we need some finality”.
He added:
“Of course, it depends if the EU moves”.
“If the EU moves substantially and actually we’re only dotting a few Is or crossing a few Ts, it might be different”.
“But I think without movement on the crucial two, three areas that I’ve described, I think that will be a point of finality”.
“And that’s certainly the way the UK side is approaching it”.
Prior to his trip to Brussels on Wednesday, the Prime Minister had told MPs the EU wanted the “automatic right” to punish the UK in the future, if it fails to comply with new EU laws.
Following this, Mr Raab said:
“What we’re not going to do is allow the EU, undemocratically, to control our laws in this country”.
Mr Raab said the government would “probably” need a yes or no answer on whether a trade deal is possible by Sunday.
But he warned the UK would not concede on so-called level playing field provisions or fisheries – the two most contentious issues – over the next four days.
Photo: Gov.uk.
