Boris Johnson wants them to be fast, but European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen predicts them to be "tough": the United Kingdom and the European Union are laying the groundwork for their upcoming post-Brexit negotiations on Wednesday. Scheduled for an afternoon in London, the interview between the two leaders is the first since the assumption of office last month by Ursula von der Leyen and since the overwhelming electoral victory of the Conservative head of government on the promise to go out. the UK from the EU on January 31.
Once out of the European fold, after forty-seven years of an eventful common life, a transition period will open for the United Kingdom until the end of 2020, supposed to allow a smooth separation, during which the British will continue to 'apply and benefit from European rules - without sitting in European institutions or having a say in decisions. Before negotiations begin to determine relations between London and the 27 at the end of this period, the two sides show the muscles.
First date
Before going to Downing street, the head of the European executive set the tone. "There will be hard discussions" and it will be impossible to agree on "all aspects" without extension of negotiations beyond the end of 2020, the deadline currently set, she warned. "We must choose priorities," she added in a speech, while assuring that the EU was "ready to work day and night", and calling for optimism.
Boris Johnson is expected to "stress the importance of approving a future relationship of trust and positive by the end of December 2020," his press services said in a statement. The divorce agreement between London and Brussels provides that the transition period may be extended to two years if the parties fail to conclude, within this period of time, the complex agreement which will govern their commercial relationship on the long term. But Boris Johnson firmly excludes it.
Macron wants Johnson to be "flexible"
The EU is ready to "design a new partnership with zero customs duties, zero quotas, zero dumping," Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday. "Without fair competition in environment, labor, taxation and state aid, you cannot have the highest quality access to the largest common market in the world," she warned. .
Emmanuel Macron had previously estimated that Boris Johnson should be "flexible" while European Commissioner Thierry Breton who warned that the EU would be "uncompromising" with the United Kingdom which will have "to access the European single market (…) respect all (its) rules ”. In addition to a free trade agreement, the EU and the United Kingdom plan to agree on international and security issues.
Among the concerns on the EU side, the rights of its nationals in the United Kingdom after Brexit. According to the Daily Telegraph , European negotiator Michel Barnier insisted on the need for an independent body to collect complaints against the government, in a letter to Brexit Minister Steve Barclay, sent before Christmas. The two men will also take part in the meeting between Ursula von der Leyen and Boris Johnson.
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First meeting between Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen this Wednesday
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