Britain and the European Union struck a pessimistic tone in trade talks on Thursday, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying it was “very likely” there would be no agreement unless the bloc changed its position “substantially”.
Just over two weeks before Britain finally leaves the bloc’s orbit, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen was also downbeat, saying it would be “very challenging” to overcome the “big differences” that remained.
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Both sides have called on the other to shift position to try to safeguard almost a trillion dollars worth of trade from tariffs and quotas when a so-called transition period ends on Dec. 31.
After a call between Johnson and von der Leyen to take stock on the talks, a spokesperson for the British leader said: “The prime minister underlined that the negotiations were now in a serious situation.”
“Time was very short and it now looked very likely that agreement would not be reached unless the EU position changed substantially ... He said that, if no agreement could be reached, the UK and the EU would part as friends, with the UK trading with the EU on Australian-style terms.”
Australia does not have a free trade agreement with the EU and most of their trade is on World Trade Organization rules.
Reference: CNBC
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