By Hannah Rodger
Westminster Correspondent
BOTH the EU and UK have said “more momentum” is needed in the Brexit negotiations, after high-level discussions.
Boris Johnson said there was a “very good chance” of reaching a trade deal with the European Union, following his virtual summit meeting with officials yesterday.
The Prime Minister called for an agreement to be reached by the end of July, however European Council chief Charles Michel said the bloc would not be pressured into buying “a pig in a poke”.
Brussels still insists the UK must commit to a “level playing field”, preventing the UK straying too far from Brussels’ rules on workers’ rights, environmental protections and state subsidies.
Chief UK negotiator David Frost has said that the country is only asking for the same deals already agreed between the EU and other countries such as Norway and Australia.
Speaking in Downing Street, Mr Johnson said he believed a deal would be concluded by the end of the year when the current transition arrangements expire “provided we really focus now and get on and do it”.
He suggested that Brussels wanted to drag the talks out in an attempt to push them towards the December 31 deadline.
It was “very clear what the UK needs” from the deal, he said, adding: “We can’t have the involvement of the European Court of Justice in this country, we can’t have a system whereby we continue to have to obey EU law even when we’re out of the EU and we’ve got to get a great deal for our fish.
“I don’t think we’re actually that far apart, but what we need now is to see a bit of oomph in the negotiations.”
In a joint statement, the two sides said the earlier rounds of talks led Mr Frost and EU negotiator Michel Barnier had been “constructive” but “new momentum was required”.
The EU side was represented in the summit by Mr Michel, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and European Parliament president David Sassoli. Mr Johnson was joined by Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove, Mr Frost and the UK’s ambassador to the EU Sir Tim Barrow.
Mr Michel said a “broad and ambitious” agreement was in both sides’ interests but the level playing field was “essential”.
He added that the EU was “ready to put a tiger in the tank but not to buy a pig in a poke”.
Asked about the possibility of a “cut-off date” on the talks to give businesses some certainty about what to expect from January 1, Mr Johnson said: “What we already said today is the faster we can do this the better, we see no reason why you shouldn’t get that done in July.
“The issue is very clear, we fought an election based on these ideas, the manifesto was very clear.”
He added: “I certainly don’t want to see it going on to the autumn/winter as I think perhaps in Brussels they would like.”
A series of weekly talks with the EU will now take place at official level for five weeks, commencing on June 29, looking at detailed technical issues
Westminster leader for the SNP Ian Blackford said Scotland was being ignored by Downing Street, and warned that the Prime Minister was “taking the UK head-first towards a Brexit disaster which could damage our economy with the growing risk of a devastating bad deal or no-deal outcome.”
He said the “Tory Brexit obsession” was evidence that “the only way to protect Scotland’s economic interests and our place at the heart of Europe is to become an independent country”, and added: “Yet again, the Prime Minister is putting the narrow Tory Brexit obsession ahead of his responsibilities to protect people’s jobs, businesses and living standards. He must think again, pause his failed talks and agree to the two-year transition period extension on offer.
“Scotland has been completely ignored by Westminster throughout the Brexit process.
“The UK already faces the worst economic crisis in decades. It would be reckless in the extreme for the Tory government to pile a Brexit crisis on top of coronavirus, which would put even more jobs and businesses at risk and cause unemployment to soar.
“The Tories are pushing Scotland and the UK towards a longer, protracted recession, which will cause lasting damage to millions of people’s incomes and livelihoods.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here