Last Friday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson, on live television, called on Britain to prepare for a no-deal Brexit and blame the failure of negotiations on the European Union.
“We need a fundamental change in the attitude of the EU, which in recent months has refused to negotiate seriously”. “So, with absolute confidence we prepare for the alternative, a future of great prosperity as an independent nation free to make trade agreements, to control our borders and territorial waters and to enact our laws.”
This statement provoked an exchange of messages between the two sides. The EU said that not only negotiations would have been resumed on Monday (yesterday), but that they would have also been “intensified.” Downing Street relaunched stating that it would have been pointless for Michel Barnier, the EU chief negotiator, to come to London on Monday unless he was willing to make substantial compromises (it must be said that his London trip has been postponed so far). The British Prime Minister’s spokesman said, “the first thing to say is that the trade negotiations are over, the EU has effectively concluded the negotiations by declaring that they do not want to change their negotiating position, the negotiations make no sense if the EU does not change position”. The British government objected in particular to the communiqué issued by EU leaders, in which they called on Great Britain to take the necessary steps to make an agreement possible.
The British position has always been addressed towards an agreement like the one with Canada based on free trade (CETA, the agreement that the EU signed with Canada in 2016, eliminated 98% of tariffs on goods and harmonized much of the rules). However, the EU said it was unwilling to take the Canadian hypothesis seriously. If so, the UK should opt for the Australian model.
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