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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/jun/20/eu-wont-negotiate-on-boris-johnson-brexit-plan-says-dutch-pm-mark-rutte
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| EU won't negotiate on Boris Johnson's Brexit plan, says Dutch PM | EU won't negotiate on Boris Johnson's Brexit plan, says Dutch PM |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Boris Johnson as prime minister would have to dump his pledge to get rid of the Irish backstop and then change the British government’s red lines for there to be hope of further Brexit negotiations, the Dutch prime minister has said. | Boris Johnson as prime minister would have to dump his pledge to get rid of the Irish backstop and then change the British government’s red lines for there to be hope of further Brexit negotiations, the Dutch prime minister has said. |
| Mark Rutte said an incoming prime minister needed to be flexible, and that he hoped that the rhetoric of the Tory leadership campaign would be dropped once a new leader was confronted with the reality of the UK’s position. | |
| “I hope that campaign is done in poetry, and governing is in prose, as I think Churchill said once,” Rutte said. “That when they read all the briefs and get the details of where we are at the moment in the Brexit negotiations that the person in the prime ministership will realise that something has to be changed.” | “I hope that campaign is done in poetry, and governing is in prose, as I think Churchill said once,” Rutte said. “That when they read all the briefs and get the details of where we are at the moment in the Brexit negotiations that the person in the prime ministership will realise that something has to be changed.” |
| Tory leadership: Hammond urges candidates to be 'honest' with public about Brexit options - live new | Tory leadership: Hammond urges candidates to be 'honest' with public about Brexit options - live new |
| Johnson, who is the clear frontrunner in the Conservative leadership race, has said that he will take the Irish backstop, which would keep the UK in a shared customs territory with the EU to avoid a hard border, out of the Brexit deal. | Johnson, who is the clear frontrunner in the Conservative leadership race, has said that he will take the Irish backstop, which would keep the UK in a shared customs territory with the EU to avoid a hard border, out of the Brexit deal. |
| He has also insisted that the UK must leave the EU with or without a deal by the 31 October, a position that the former Brexit secretary, David Davis, who on Thursday announced his backing for the former foreign secretary, claimed Johnson had repeated to him on Wednesday. | He has also insisted that the UK must leave the EU with or without a deal by the 31 October, a position that the former Brexit secretary, David Davis, who on Thursday announced his backing for the former foreign secretary, claimed Johnson had repeated to him on Wednesday. |
| In an interview with the BBC on the eve of an EU leaders’ summit in Brussels, Rutte said that there was no chance of a renegotiation. He also dismissed a time limit on the backstop. | |
| “You would have a time limit that ends in four, five, six years time? If there is no other solution for the border issue, and I don’t think we will have anything in place in four or five years purely technically, given the present position of the British government it will be a hard border. Would we want that? I don’t think so. That would be the end of the Good Friday agreement.” | “You would have a time limit that ends in four, five, six years time? If there is no other solution for the border issue, and I don’t think we will have anything in place in four or five years purely technically, given the present position of the British government it will be a hard border. Would we want that? I don’t think so. That would be the end of the Good Friday agreement.” |
| Asked about the possibility of a further extension of the UK’s membership past 31 October, when the country is currently set to leave with or without a deal, Rutte said he could see little point unless a new prime minister rethought Theresa May’s decision to leave the single market and customs union. | Asked about the possibility of a further extension of the UK’s membership past 31 October, when the country is currently set to leave with or without a deal, Rutte said he could see little point unless a new prime minister rethought Theresa May’s decision to leave the single market and customs union. |
| In a ‘no deal’ scenario, the UK would leave the single market and the customs union immediately with no ‘divorce’ arrangement in place. The European Court of Justice would cease to have jurisdiction over the UK, and the country would also leave various other institutions including Euratom and Europol. | In a ‘no deal’ scenario, the UK would leave the single market and the customs union immediately with no ‘divorce’ arrangement in place. The European Court of Justice would cease to have jurisdiction over the UK, and the country would also leave various other institutions including Euratom and Europol. |
| The UK would no longer be paying into the EU budget, nor would it hand over the £39bn divorce payment. There would be no transition period. Free movement of people into the UK from the EU27 would stop. | The UK would no longer be paying into the EU budget, nor would it hand over the £39bn divorce payment. There would be no transition period. Free movement of people into the UK from the EU27 would stop. |
| Trade between the UK and the EU would be governed by basic WTO rules. The UK government has already indicated that it will set low or no tariffs on goods coming into the country. This would lower the price of imports - making it harder for British manufacturers to compete with foreign goods. If the UK sets the tariffs to zero on goods coming in from the EU, under WTO ‘most favoured nation’ rules it must also offer the same zero tariffs to other countries. | Trade between the UK and the EU would be governed by basic WTO rules. The UK government has already indicated that it will set low or no tariffs on goods coming into the country. This would lower the price of imports - making it harder for British manufacturers to compete with foreign goods. If the UK sets the tariffs to zero on goods coming in from the EU, under WTO ‘most favoured nation’ rules it must also offer the same zero tariffs to other countries. |
| WTO rules only cover goods - they do not apply to financial services, a significant part of the UK’s economy. Trading under WTO rules will also require border checks, which could cause delays at ports, and a severe challenge to the peace process in Ireland without alternative arrangements in place to avoid a hard border. | WTO rules only cover goods - they do not apply to financial services, a significant part of the UK’s economy. Trading under WTO rules will also require border checks, which could cause delays at ports, and a severe challenge to the peace process in Ireland without alternative arrangements in place to avoid a hard border. |
| Some ‘No Deal’ supporters have claimed that the UK can use Article 24 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (Gatt) to force the EU to accept a period of up to ten years where there are no tariffs while a free trade agreement (FTA) is negotiated. However, the UK cannot invoke Article 24 unilaterally - the EU would have to agree to it. In previous cases where the article has been used, the two sides had a deal in place, and it has never been used to replicate something of the scale and complexity of the EU and the UK’s trading relationship. | Some ‘No Deal’ supporters have claimed that the UK can use Article 24 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (Gatt) to force the EU to accept a period of up to ten years where there are no tariffs while a free trade agreement (FTA) is negotiated. However, the UK cannot invoke Article 24 unilaterally - the EU would have to agree to it. In previous cases where the article has been used, the two sides had a deal in place, and it has never been used to replicate something of the scale and complexity of the EU and the UK’s trading relationship. |
| Until some agreements are in place, a ‘no deal’ scenario will place extra overheads on UK businesses - for example the current government advice is that all drivers, including lorries and commercial vehicles, will require extra documentation to be able to drive in Europe after 31 October if there is no deal. Those arguing for a ‘managed’ no deal envisage that a range of smaller sector-by-sector bilateral agreements could be quickly put into place as mutual self-interest between the UK and EU to avoid introducing or rapidly remove this kind of bureaucracy. | Until some agreements are in place, a ‘no deal’ scenario will place extra overheads on UK businesses - for example the current government advice is that all drivers, including lorries and commercial vehicles, will require extra documentation to be able to drive in Europe after 31 October if there is no deal. Those arguing for a ‘managed’ no deal envisage that a range of smaller sector-by-sector bilateral agreements could be quickly put into place as mutual self-interest between the UK and EU to avoid introducing or rapidly remove this kind of bureaucracy. |
| Martin Belam | Martin Belam |
| Rutte, who described himself as a certified Anglophile, said: “If nothing is happening? If it would mean after 31 October again going through the rounds, and these traditional talks, ‘Can we make changes?’ ‘No we can’t , because you have to change your red lines,’ [then] there is no point in having an extension. | |
| “When a new prime minister comes in and asks for an extension we have to learn what his plan will be in terms of new elections, new referendum, making changes to the red lines the UK is currently holding … If there is no change on all those positions I cannot see why it makes any sense to negotiate longer.” | “When a new prime minister comes in and asks for an extension we have to learn what his plan will be in terms of new elections, new referendum, making changes to the red lines the UK is currently holding … If there is no change on all those positions I cannot see why it makes any sense to negotiate longer.” |
| Rutte said that a no-deal Brexit would bring chaos, but that even leaving the EU with a negotiated agreement would leave the UK diminished as it was not a big enough country to play a major role on the world stage. | |
| The impact he said would be “so much bigger than so many people anticipate”, adding that it was just rhetoric when people claimed that the UK with a population of 65 million could secure better trade deals than a continent of 500 million. | The impact he said would be “so much bigger than so many people anticipate”, adding that it was just rhetoric when people claimed that the UK with a population of 65 million could secure better trade deals than a continent of 500 million. |
| He said the impact of the Brexit uncertainty on the UK’s car industry and its sluggish growth provided a signal of what was to come. “With a hard Brexit, even with a normal Brexit, the UK will be a different country,” he said. “It will be a diminished country. It is unavoidable.” | |
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