Ex-EU ambassador warns Brussels it’ll do damage to ties with Britain by playing hardball in trade talks
BRUSSELS has been warned it will do long-term damage to ties with Britain if it takes a hardball approach to trade talks with Boris Johnson.
Sir Ivan Rogers, the UK’s former ambassador to the EU, said the bloc’s demands could leave voters feeling “screwed” and create a “thin, sour and conflictual” relationship.
He warned it was “virtually inevitable” negotiations would collapse this time next year if Brussels laid down red lines on following its rules and allowing access to European fishermen.
In a speech at Glasgow University last night, Sir Ivan said the PM was repeating the errors of Theresa May that would see Brussels “maximise its leverage in the next phase”.
But he also warned the EU not to be inflexible as it could affect relations. He said: “The biggest crisis of Brexit to date actually still lies ahead of us.
The jelly will be setting on a potential endgame in 2020 as soon as the EU negotiating mandate starts to appear in print.
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“The price of level playing field conditionality and a fisheries deal will be very steep, and both will very hard to swallow.”
His remarks came as the Commission revealed it has already opened “preparatory contacts” with the UK Government on future trade talks.
Internal EU discussions have also begun over the bloc’s negotiating mandate that will see it table demands on the Level Playing Field and fishing rights soon after we leave.
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