EU’s Barnier Hits Boris Johnson With Brexit Trade Ultimatum

(Bloomberg) --

The European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, handed British Prime Minister Boris Johnson an ultimatum, warning there will be no trade deal unless the U.K. agrees to the bloc’s demands on fair competition and fishing.

“The trade deal will be associated with a fisheries agreement and a level playing field, otherwise there won’t be any agreement at all,” Barnier told reporters in Brussels on Tuesday. “If we want to achieve in the short period demanded by Mr. Johnson, we can’t have backtracking.”

He spoke days before the two sides are due to open formal trade negotiations that will decide whether Britain will continue to enjoy tariff-free access to the bloc’s single market.

If they fail to reach agreement by Johnson’s year-end deadline, Britain will default to trading with the EU on terms set by the World Trade Organization, meaning the return of tariffs and quotas.

Playing Fair

The EU is demanding a so-called “level playing field” that would align British rules and standards with those of the EU to prevent the U.K. potentially gaining an unfair advantage by undercutting the bloc.

Responding to Barnier, an official in Johnson’s office described the idea of a level playing field as a “construct” that is not in the EU’s other trade deals. Johnson’s spokesman James Slack said the U.K. will not give up control of its fishing waters in trade talks -- but is willing to discuss who can fish in them.

“Our overriding priority is to retake control of our laws,” Slack told reporters in London as Barnier spoke in Brussels. “The British public were promised we will take control of our fishing waters and that’s what we’re going to do.”

The EU does have level playing field conditions in other trade deals -- including its tariff-free agreement on goods trade with Canada that the U.K. wants to replicate -- but they aren’t as stringent. The EU says it needs to be tougher with the U.K. because the British economy is so close and so large.

That is reflected in the final negotiating mandate European ministers approved on Tuesday. In it, the bloc requires the U.K. to broadly follow any future changes in EU rules on competition policy, environmental protections, tax, and labor law.

Time Pressure

The document demands that the U.K. “should uphold common high standards, and corresponding high standards over time with Union standards as a reference point.”

Barnier also insisted that the U.K. needs to fulfill the commitments it made as part of its withdrawal deal that prevent the return of customs checks on the border with Ireland. Earlier this week, though, it emerged that the U.K. is refusing to ask ports to get ready to implement new checks on goods moving between Britain and Northern Ireland. The EU argues that these inspections are needed if checks are to be avoided on goods moving south into Ireland.

“All of this is part of a treaty that has been ratified by the House of Commons, and it’s already become British law,” Barnier said.

Barnier also warned of the “time pressure” Johnson has imposed on the talks by ruling out any extension of the negotiating period beyond the end of 2020. That means, Barnier said, “you can’t do everything.”

To contact the reporter on this story: Ian Wishart in Brussels at iwishart@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tim Ross at tross54@bloomberg.net, Edward Evans

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