The European Union would refuse to negotiate a trade deal with the UK if the government reneged on the Brexit bill, EU sources have said.
At the G7 summit in Biarritz, Boris Johnson said it was a “simple statement of reality” that in the event of no-deal Brexit the UK would withhold much of the £39bn financial settlement agreed by Theresa May.
Brussels sources have warned that future trade talks would be blocked until the UK agreed to a settlement.
The financial settlement was a “totemic” issue for EU member states, one official said. “The message will be ‘honour your debts, or we are not even going to start talking about a trade deal,’” the source said, reflecting a widespread view among diplomats.
Responding to the prime minister’s comments, Jean-Claude Piris, a former head of the EU council legal service, tweeted: “If the UK refuses to pay its debts to the EU, then the EU will not accept to negotiate a trade agreement with the UK.” [...]
But the UK government could also face fresh demands set by countries hit hard by a chaotic no deal. Diplomats expect that France and other coastal states would seek to make fisheries a key condition for unlocking talks on a future trade deal. “The EU reserves the right to extend the list” of phase one issues, the source said. “The first contender will be fishing, as member states will be facing some very, very angry fishing communities.” [...]
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