British negotiator promises UK will not be Europe’s “vassal state”

The UK will not become “A vassal state” of the European Union (EU) regardless of the post-Brexit trade agreement concluded with the Twenty-Seven, British negotiator David Frost said on Saturday (September 5th). “We will not be a vassal state”, he told the Mail on Sunday during one of his rare interviews, as the negotiations with the EU, which are stagnant, approach their conclusion.

Ahead of an eighth and final round of talks with the EU next week, Mr Frost stressed that the UK was not going to “No concessions on the fundamental principle of having control over one’s own laws”. “We’re not going to agree to clauses that would give them control over our currency, or our way of doing things here in the UK, and that shouldn’t be controversial,” he added.

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“This is what it means to be an independent country, this is what the British people voted for and this is what will happen at the end of the year, no matter what,” he pointed out. The UK formally left the EU on January 31, almost four years after a landmark referendum marking the end of almost fifty years of EU membership.

New race against time

But it remains governed by European regulations until the end of the year, while the two sides try to define the terms of their future relationship. Negotiations are slipping on several points, as time is running out on both sides to reach an agreement, given that this agreement and the laws will have to be validated by the member states and ratified by the European Parliament.

This blockage heightened the fear of a no-deal Brexit after December 31. However, Mr Frost clarified that Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his ministers did not “Fear” of such a scenario. “If we come up with an agreement that regulates trade like the one we have with Canada, great. If we don’t succeed, it will be like with Australia, and we are totally ready for that ”, did he declare.

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In the absence of an agreement before December 31, the only rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), with their high customs duties and their extensive customs controls, would apply to trade relations between the partners. What weaken economies already hit hard by the pandemic.

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The World with AFP

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