Boris Johnson insists he can broker a trade deal with the EU by the end of 2020 even as Brussels ramps up warnings that it may be impossible to complete the negotiations in time, creating the risk of an economic “cliff edge”.
As both sides prepare for future relationship talks that will follow Brexit on January 31, Michael Gove, the UK cabinet minister, said on Sky News on Sunday that trade negotiations “will be concluded next year”.
“We will have concluded our conversations with the EU about the new framework of free trade and friendly co-operation that we will have with them.”
But Brussels has stressed that the 11-month window to negotiate a deal will force both sides to “prioritise” and potentially leave some issues unresolved until later.
EU officials privately say that the quality of the talks will benefit from more time, something that could happen only if Mr Johnson reversed his opposition to extending Britain’s post-Brexit transition period beyond the end of 2020.
“If the transition period is extended quickly it could take away some political drama in the UK and have a positive impact on negotiations”, one official said. “How much time there will be for negotiating the future relationship depends entirely on the UK.” [...]
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