Boris Johnson eyes Canada-style trade deal with the EU after Brexit, report claims
- The Prime Minister is allegedly prepared to accept an ‘off-the-shelf’ model
- It would mean the UK would enjoy almost tariff-free trade with EU countries
- However, such a deal would not include the services sector in the UK
- This could shrink the UK’s economy by almost five per cent over 15 years
Boris Johnson is preparing to call for a trade deal with the EU based on the bloc’s arrangements with Canada, according to a new report.
The Prime Minister is allegedly prepared to accept an ‘off-the-shelf’ model to make Brexit as smooth as possible, reports The Times.
It would mean the UK would enjoy almost tariff-free trade with EU countries.
However, such a deal would not include the services sector, a move which it is estimated would shrink the UK’s economy by almost five per cent over 15 years.
Boris Johnson will deliver a plea for the country to move on from Brexit on Friday night as the UK finally leaves the EU
A Canada-style off-the-shelf deal has previously been proposed by the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier but was turned down by Theresa May’s team.
The PM met with Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, in Downing Street at the beginning of the month to express his openness to such a deal.
He said Britain would ready to start negotiations ‘as soon as possible’ after Jan 31, according to The Telegraph.
London unfurls the flags for Brexit as the Mall in London towards Buckingham Palace is transformed into a sea of patriotic Red White & Blue
It came hours after Ms von der Leyen warned it would be ‘basically impossible’ to negotiate as close a relationship by the end of the year.
She added that the two sides ‘will have to prioritise’ objectives. Barnier echoed these concerns, warning that it might not be possible to get a comprehensive deal by the end of the ‘standstill’ transition period in December, and urged the UK to accept ‘level playing field’ provisions.
Signed in October 2016, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), ranges from single markets to customs unions, to association agreements, to free trade agreements (FTAs) and beyond.
Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator pictured in Strasbourg on January 14, will lead talks for the EU
Meanwhile, Johnson will deliver a plea for the country to move on from Brexit on Friday night as the UK finally leaves the EU.
In an address to be broadcast shortly before Britain’s departure at 11pm, the Prime Minister will insist that Brexit marks ‘not an end but a beginning’.
At 11pm on Friday – midnight on the Continent – Britain will legally leave the EU and enter a ‘transition period’ which runs until December 31.
Boris Johnson and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, pictured in Downing Street on January 8, will spend 2020 trying to hammer out a post-Brexit trade deal between Britain and Brussels
During this time the UK will remain subject to EU laws and free movement of people will continue.
On Monday Mr Johnson will deliver a major speech setting out his approach to both Brexit and national renewal.
Sources said he would be ‘very frank’ about his aims for the negotiations with Brussels and his determination to allow Britain to ‘diverge’ from the EU, even if this means the introduction of some trade barriers.
In a statement, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn urged the country not to ‘turn inwards’ and instead ‘build a truly internationalist, diverse and outward-looking Britain’.