UK and EU agree to intensify trade talks as prospect of no-deal Brexit looms

SNP warns of increasing risk of ‘devastating’ crash-out with no trade agreement

With time running out before a possible no-deal Brexit at the end of 2020, Britain and the EU have agreed to “intensify” talks on a future trade and security agreement.

In a joint statement following a high-level video conference aimed at injecting new vigour into stalled trade talks, Boris Johnson and the European Commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, said that “new momentum” was required in negotiations that have delivered no breakthrough since the UK’s formal departure from the EU on 31 January.

Mr Johnson insisted he believes the UK has a “very good” chance of securing a trade deal with the EU by the end of the year, “provided we really focus now and get on and do it”. He urged the EU to be ready to reach an agreement by the end of the summer.

However, the Scottish National Party (SNP) warned that the failure to make progress so far makes it “increasingly likely the UK is heading towards a devastating bad-deal or no-deal Brexit”.

And a close ally of the French president, Emmanuel Macron, made clear that Paris is prepared for a no-deal outcome if Mr Johnson refuses to make concessions on issues such as fisheries and a level playing-field to avoid unfair competition.

The prime minister’s formal confirmation last week that the UK will not request an extension to talks with Brussels has heightened the pressure to achieve a swift agreement or face the prospect of new tariffs and other barriers to trade with the EU from 31 December.

Speaking as talks got under way, Mr Johnson’s official spokesperson said the PM would make clear that while the UK still wants to strike an “ambitious” free-trade agreement with the EU, it is ready to move to World Trade Organisation rules from 1 January if a deal cannot be reached.

Those would impose heavy tariffs on a number of imports, including a 10 per cent levy on motor vehicles coming from the EU, which would be likely to push up the cost of standard family cars like Volkswagens and Renaults by £1,500 or more for British consumers.

Meanwhile, French former Europe minister Nathalie Loiseau, now a senior MEP for Mr Macron’s En Marche! party, told Radio 4’s Today programme: “We are ready either for an agreement or for a no-deal. And we are getting prepared more actively to a no-deal considering the circumstances.

“We are waiting for Boris Johnson to get committed into the negotiations and to tell us if he really wants an agreement. So far there have been statements and positions repeated but not something that looks like a real negotiation.”

The PM’s spokesperson said Mr Johnson was urging “renewed energy and commitment to reach an agreement by the end of the summer”.

“The high-level meeting was always envisaged as a moment to push the negotiations forward,” he said.

“We now need to get this resolved and deliver certainty for businesses at home and in the EU as soon as possible.”

In a statement issued on Twitter shortly after today’s talks, Ms Von der Leyen said that with the European Council president, Charles Michel, and the European parliament president, David Sassoli, she had “noted the UK’s decision not to extend the transition period and agreed to deliver the best deal for our citizens”.

The EU had made clear that an extension of up to two years was available, and opinion polls suggested that the UK public wanted Mr Johnson to take advantage of the additional time because of the disruption to negotiations resulting from the coronavirus outbreak.

In a joint statement, Mr Johnson and Ms Von der Leyen said that they ”welcomed the constructive discussions” undertaken over the past four months by chief negotiators David Frost and Michel Barnier, which they said had allowed both sides to “clarify and further understand positions”.

But they added: “The parties agreed nevertheless that new momentum was required. They supported the plans agreed by chief negotiators to intensify the talks in July and to create the most conducive conditions for concluding and ratifying a deal before the end of 2020.

“This should include, if possible, finding an early understanding on the principles underlying any agreement.”

The SNP’s Westminster leader, Ian Blackford, said that Scottish government analysis found that ending the transition period in 2020 could remove £3bn from the Scottish economy in just two years – on top of the impact of the coronavirus.

“Boris Johnson is taking the UK headfirst towards a Brexit disaster – threatening our economy with the growing risk of a devastating bad deal or no-deal outcome,” said Mr Blackford.

“Yet again, the prime minister is putting the narrow Tory Brexit obsession ahead of his responsibilities to protect people’s jobs, businesses and living standards. He must think again, pause his failed talks and agree to the two-year transition-period extension on offer.

“The UK already faces the worst economic crisis in decades. It would be reckless in the extreme for the Tory government to pile a Brexit crisis on top of coronavirus, which would put even more jobs and businesses at risk and cause unemployment to soar.”