France and Ireland Talk Tough as EU Agrees U.K. Negotiations Mandate
France and Ireland Talk Tough as EU Agrees U.K. Talks Mandate
France and Ireland went on the offensive over the U.K.’s obligations in any post-Brexit trade deal as European Union ministers agreed on their objectives for the negotiations.
Arriving at a meeting of national governments in Brussels to sign off the EU’s mandate for the talks, representatives from Paris and Dublin warned Prime Minister Boris Johnson that the bloc won’t back down on some of its most fundamental demands -- including that Britain continue to play by the EU’s rules, something Downing Street has ruled out.
The mandate gives EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, his objectives as he opens discussions with the British next week. Amid lobbying from France, the bloc toughened its demands that Britain should commit to a level playing field in areas such as state aid, competition law, labor standards and climate change. Without such commitments, EU member states are concerned the U.K. will undercut the bloc’s economy.
The mandate “is to protect the interest of Europeans,” said French Europe Minister Amelie de Montchalin, who insisted that the EU won’t agree to anything if it doesn’t come with guarantees to ensure fair competition and access to fish in U.K. waters.
For Ireland, it is just as important that Johnson sticks to the promises he made in Britain’s divorce agreement with the EU to prevent the return of customs checks on the Irish border.
“Without good faith and trust building, a future relationship isn’t going to be easy,” Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said. “And so, if there isn’t progress on the infrastructure needed to implement the Irish protocol as part of the Withdrawal Agreement in the next few months, then I think that is going to be a very worrying signal for whether or not it’s going to be possible to conclude something sensible before the end of the year.”
After the EU’s 27 member states formally adopted the mandate on Tuesday, the U.K. said it will unveil its own on Thursday before negotiations between the two sides start on Monday. They have until the year-end to reach an agreement or Britain will default to trading with the EU on terms set by the World Trade Organization, meaning the returns of tariffs and quotas.
Irreconcilable Conflict
The EU has toughened its conditions for a deal over time, in particular by requiring the U.K. to follow any future changes in EU rules. The final mandate requires that the U.K. “should uphold common high standards, and corresponding high standards over time with Union standards as a reference point.”
Those demands set up a potentially irreconcilable conflict with Britain. Johnson is seeking a tariff-free deal on goods similar to the one Canada agreed with the EU. But Canada isn’t bound by the EU’s state aid rules and isn’t required to follow any future changes to the bloc’s rules. Johnson has warned he would rather walk away without a deal than accept being bound by EU rules.
For the U.K., regaining political independence and freedom from the bloc’s legal system will take priority over securing a trade deal by the deadline of the end of this year, according to the premier’s spokesman.
A special committee of Johnson’s Cabinet agreed to the U.K.’s negotiating mandate on Tuesday, spokesman James Slack told reporters. “It was a smooth process to agree our approach, which will restore our economic and political independence,” he said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Ian Wishart in Brussels at iwishart@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Edward Evans, Stuart Biggs
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