British Chancellor of the Exchequer Sunac said on Sunday.
Hoping for a “constructive” Brexit outcome, we should not reach a deal “at any cost” and will not accept a deal at any cost. But a deal is “preferable,” at least in the short term.
The tough talk was seen as downplaying the impact of Britain’s “no trade deal” Brexit, and came as the British Telegraph reported that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was preparing to make a major intervention in the Brexit negotiations, and that Johnson was expected to speak with European Commission President Von der Leyen in an attempt to clear the final hurdle to a Brexit deal.
Both British and EU officials have previously argued that a deal is imminent and that this week’s negotiations will be an important watershed in the negotiations, which are still contentious over issues such as fisheries and a level playing field between the U.K. and the EU.
One British official said that if a deal looks likely at the beginning of the week, negotiations may be extended over the weekend to continue. We are not yet at the point where the leaders are going to get involved, the official said.
On the question of how a no-deal Brexit would affect the U.K. economy after the U.K. transition period ends this year, Sunak said.
Regardless of the outcome of Brexit, we will ultimately prosper. In the long term, I have great confidence in the British economy.
Some government officials believe that Sunak’s comments were intended to alert EU negotiators that the U.K. was preparing to exit the talks. Former UK Chancellor of the Exchequer David Gauke, for his part, strongly criticized his successor, saying the Chancellor should have warned of the possibility of serious economic damage. Anton Spisak, the former British civil servant in charge of Brexit, also wrote on social media.
The U.K. will suffer the “most obvious” setback after the Brexit transition period ends next January, but the biggest setback will be in the medium to long term: the contagion will radically shift supply chains, shift business to other countries, and pull capital out of the country.
EU officials are trying to prolong the negotiations, but they are stuck on procedural issues?
Although the UK’s stance is always erratic, the EU is still fighting hard.
The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Barnier, is still in self-imposed isolation, and market sources say that the UK and the EU will continue to negotiate online and will resume face-to-face talks if it is safe to do so. Earlier, a senior EU official indicated that the deadline for reaching a post-Brexit trade agreement could be November 23. The official said that if the political or legal acceptability of an arbitrary trade agreement, it would give us a few more weeks.
Both sides remain hopeful that an agreement can be reached. British officials say that a pause in face-to-face negotiations could be a good thing, as it would give exhausted negotiators a chance to assess the situation.
An EU diplomat noted that the EU also faces a procedural challenge because of the delays: If a deal is reached, the European Parliament will vote in the week of Dec. 14 – the last session of the year – but it will need to be translated into the 24 official languages used within the EU before then, which the EU institutions will barely have time to do.
The diplomat said the parties are exploring workarounds, and members of the European Parliament have indicated they are prepared to hold a vote near the end of the year in order to buy more time for negotiations.
UK EU inside and out, paving way for post-Brexit trade
On the morning of November 21, Canada’s Prime Minister Trudeau and British Prime Minister Johnson announced via videoconference that they had reached a Canada-UK Continuity of Trade Agreement (CETA). Canada and the European Union have already signed a comprehensive economic and trade agreement, but since the United Kingdom will complete its “Brexit” after December 31 of this year, the two sides need a new trade agreement to replace the current agreement with the EU and to avoid the mutual imposition of tariffs.
However, due to time constraints, the two sides have only reached a tentative agreement, and negotiations for a formal agreement will continue from next year. In a statement, the U.K. Department of International Trade said the continuation of the existing trade relationship means “providing certainty” for 20 billion pounds worth of trade in goods and services between the U.K. and Canada, and takes the U.K. a step closer to joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.
The agreement could be a major boost to Johnson’s efforts to chart a new course for British trade independent of the EU. Without the new agreement, the U.K. and Canada would have begun imposing trade tariffs on each other on Jan. 1.
The development comes as a relief at a time of tense Brexit negotiations, the UK’s second trade terms after those agreed with Japan at the end of October, in addition to the fact that the UK still has until January 1 to revise the agreement with the US, Australia, New Zealand and 14 other countries to avoid violating WTO terms, which cover about 60 billion pounds.
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