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Boris Johnson offering 'impossible' Brexit vision Boris Johnson attacked over 'Prosecco insult'
(about 5 hours later)
Boris Johnson is offering Britain a vision of life outside the EU that is "intellectually impossible", a leading European finance minister has said. An Italian minister has accused Boris Johnson of "insulting" his country by suggesting it should back his version of a Brexit deal or face losing sales of Prosecco sparkling wine.
The foreign secretary reportedly told a Czech paper the UK was likely to leave the EU customs union post-Brexit - but still wanted to trade freely after. Carlo Calenda said the UK would abandon some "fish and chips exports" under the foreign secretary's approach to trade.
However, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the Dutch finance minister, said such an option "doesn't exist" and was "impossible". Mr Calenda's comments are based on his own version of talks with the UK's foreign secretary.
Number 10 said a decision on membership of the customs union had not been made. Mr Johnson has promised a "dynamic trade relationship" with the EU.
Mr Johnson reportedly told the Czech newspaper Hospodarske Noviny he did not believe the UK would remain in the EU customs union after Brexit. Prime Minister Theresa May wants to get formal negotiations on leaving the EU started by the end of next March.
He was quoted as saying he believed such a move could be done while "maintaining free trade" with EU states, suggesting the UK could remain within the single market. The government says it does not want to reveal its negotiating hand before this happens.
The customs union allows members to move goods without the imposition of tariffs on each other. But, describing a conversation with Mr Johnson about the UK's preferred Brexit outcome, Mr Calenda, Italy's economic development minister, told Bloomberg TV: "His idea is, 'We want to have access to the common market without giving you access in terms of free circulation of people,' and I think this is wishful thinking.
However, all members also have to apply the same tariffs to goods that are imported from outside the union - which is seen as a disadvantage by some Brexit supporters who want the UK to be able to negotiate its own deals. "His answer was, 'OK, but you are selling a lot of what we call Prosecco in the UK... and you will allow us to do this because you don't want to lose Prosecco exports.'
Speaking to the BBC's Newsnight, Mr Dijsselbloem - who is also president of the eurozone's Eurogroup - said Mr Johnson was putting forward options that "are really not available". "I said, 'Maybe we're going to lose some Prosecco; you're going to lose some fish and chips exports. The difference is I'm going to lose [exports] to one country, you to 27.'
"Putting things on this level is a bit insulting."
Earlier, Mr Johnson reportedly told the Czech newspaper Hospodarske Noviny he did not believe the UK would remain in the EU customs union - which allows members to move goods without the imposition of tariffs on each other - after Brexit.
He was quoted as saying he believed this could happen while "maintaining free trade" with EU states, suggesting the UK could remain within the single market.
Speaking to the BBC's Newsnight, Dutch finance minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem - who is also president of the eurozone's Eurogroup - said Mr Johnson was putting forward options that "are really not available".
"He's saying things that are intellectually impossible, politically unavailable, so I think he's not offering the British people a fair view of what is available and what can be achieved in these negotiations," he said."He's saying things that are intellectually impossible, politically unavailable, so I think he's not offering the British people a fair view of what is available and what can be achieved in these negotiations," he said.
EU leaders have continually warned that the UK cannot expect access to European markets after Brexit unless it accepts the free movement of labour.EU leaders have continually warned that the UK cannot expect access to European markets after Brexit unless it accepts the free movement of labour.
Mr Dijsselbloem said that while firms in the UK currently have full access to European markets "without any hindrance or customs duties", some of that "will disappear". Mr Johnson, a leading figure in the campaign to leave the EU ahead of June's referendum, has criticised those who "prophesied doom" over Brexit.
He said it would be "a step back", adding: "The UK will be outside the internal market and there will be some hindrances." He said: "We are going to get a deal which is of huge value and possibly of greater value.
The Dutch minister told the programme that both the UK economy and the European economy would be in "a worse situation" post-Brexit. Mr Johnson added: "We are going to get the best possible deal for trade in goods and services."
"There is no win-win situation. It's going to be a lose-lose situation and in the best case if we set aside all emotions and try to reach an agreement that is least damaging to both of us we can minimise the damages," he added. UK sales of Prosecco overtook those of champagne last year, reaching £339m in the 12 months to July, according to research company IRI.
"We can do our best to minimise damages but it's going to be a step back and that is what Boris Johnson should start talking about." No figures on UK exports of fish and chips to the EU were immediately discovered by the BBC.
Downing Street has insisted that the government's position has not changed and no decision has been taken on the future membership of the customs union.
Prime Minister Theresa May wants to invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty - beginning the formal two-year process for leaving the EU - by the end of March next year.
'Can't wait'
Speaking on Wednesday at an event in London, Mr Dijsselbloem predicted the "hugely complex" negotiations were "going to take a lot longer that two years".
He added that both sides were viewing each other with "some suspicion".
Also in his Czech newspaper interview, Mr Johnson reportedly said it was a "complete myth" that free movement was one of the fundamental freedoms of the European Union.
In response, the European Parliament's lead negotiator on Brexit, Guy Verhofstadt, tweeted: "Can't wait to negotiate with @BorisJohnson, so that I can read him Article 3 of the Treaty of Rome."
The section includes removing "obstacles to freedom of movement for persons".