AFP, Brussels :
With just two weeks to go before Brexit, European diplomats are preparing for the next phase: intense negotiations to hammer out a future with Britain after its EU divorce.
Brussels is braced for new rounds of Brexit battles, aware that a bullish Prime Minister Boris Johnson is feeling reinvigorated after an electoral victory in December.
Here are the main battle lines revealed to AFP in interviews with 18 European officials and diplomats closely involved in the talks: Throughout his campaign, Johnson said he would seal a trade deal by December 31, the deadline set by the EU-UK divorce agreement, though London can request an extension of one or two more years.
This marked the EU’s first reality check – only reluctantly accepted. They no longer expect Johnson to ask for a delay.
That leaves only eight months, from March to October, to reach an agreement and allow time for ratification. “It’s an impossible task,” warned one European diplomat.
“At the end of the year, we could get the skeleton of a trade agreement plus something on internal and foreign security, but there is no guarantee,” the diplomat added.
Talks can begin as soon as EU ministers agree their joint mandate on February 25.
Johnson’s campaign promised “to get Brexit done” and to do away with his predecessor’s goal to keep close ties with Europe and disruption to the cross-Channel economy to a minimum.
Theresa May’s government had proposed a “dynamic alignment”, where London would match EU rules on the environment, state aid and other standards to allow UK companies easy access to Europe.
Johnson will instead pursue a far more minimal trade deal that will seek zero tariffs and quotas on goods.
“The prime minister has been clear that he wants a Canada-style free trade agreement with no alignment,” a UK official told AFP.
This refers to the EU’s trade deal with Canada that Europeans consider ambitious as a trade deal, but too narrow for an important neighbour like Britain.
A mere trade deal would be an economic blow to Britain, but also to the UK’s closest trading partners – such as Ireland, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
With just two weeks to go before Brexit, European diplomats are preparing for the next phase: intense negotiations to hammer out a future with Britain after its EU divorce.
Brussels is braced for new rounds of Brexit battles, aware that a bullish Prime Minister Boris Johnson is feeling reinvigorated after an electoral victory in December.
Here are the main battle lines revealed to AFP in interviews with 18 European officials and diplomats closely involved in the talks: Throughout his campaign, Johnson said he would seal a trade deal by December 31, the deadline set by the EU-UK divorce agreement, though London can request an extension of one or two more years.
This marked the EU’s first reality check – only reluctantly accepted. They no longer expect Johnson to ask for a delay.
That leaves only eight months, from March to October, to reach an agreement and allow time for ratification. “It’s an impossible task,” warned one European diplomat.
“At the end of the year, we could get the skeleton of a trade agreement plus something on internal and foreign security, but there is no guarantee,” the diplomat added.
Talks can begin as soon as EU ministers agree their joint mandate on February 25.
Johnson’s campaign promised “to get Brexit done” and to do away with his predecessor’s goal to keep close ties with Europe and disruption to the cross-Channel economy to a minimum.
Theresa May’s government had proposed a “dynamic alignment”, where London would match EU rules on the environment, state aid and other standards to allow UK companies easy access to Europe.
Johnson will instead pursue a far more minimal trade deal that will seek zero tariffs and quotas on goods.
“The prime minister has been clear that he wants a Canada-style free trade agreement with no alignment,” a UK official told AFP.
This refers to the EU’s trade deal with Canada that Europeans consider ambitious as a trade deal, but too narrow for an important neighbour like Britain.
A mere trade deal would be an economic blow to Britain, but also to the UK’s closest trading partners – such as Ireland, France, Belgium and the Netherlands.
