EU’s Tusk to lay down Brexit trade red lines
Brussels, (MILLAT ONLINE):European Union President Donald Tusk will on Wednesday unveil draft guidelines for future ties with Britain, which are expected to warn London it cannot have completely free trade after Brexit.
Days after British Prime Minister Theresa May made a long-awaited speech setting out London’s terms, Tusk will present his plans at a press conference with Luxembourg premier Xavier Bettel.
The leaders of the remaining 27 EU states must then approve the guidelines at a Brussels summit on March 22, setting the template for EU negotiator Michel Barnier in trade talks that could start as soon as April.
Tusk warned last week that Britain’s self-imposed conditions for leaving the European Union — that it must quit the single market and customs union — made “frictionless” trade impossible.
“Everyone must be aware that the UK red lines will also determine the shape of our future relationship,” Tusk said, adding that the EU viewed Britain’s restrictions “without enthusiasm and without satisfaction”.
“I want to stress one thing clearly. There can be no frictionless trade outside of the customs union and the single market. Friction is an inevitable side effect of Brexit, by nature,” the former Polish premier added.
The European Parliament — which will have the final veto on any Brexit deal — is set to publish its own demands for trade talks later on Wednesday in Brussels.
The EU has repeatedly called on Britain to lay out its position on a trade deal after it leaves the union in March 2019, and Tusk recently said he would publish the guidelines whether Britain was ready or not.