Brexit: Johnson 'refuses to accept level playing field' says expert
France has sent a brutal signal to Boris Johnson, warning the UK not to expect an easy ride during trade negotiations this year. The French foreign minister Jean-Yves le Drian told the Munich Security Conference today that the Brexit trade talks will be a “bitter, bloody battle”. He went on to suggest that the EU and the UK would "rip each other apart".
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Mr le Drian predicted that it will be hard for the UK to strike deal by the end of year given the huge differences between the two sides.
He told the Munich conference: "I think that on trade issues and the mechanism for future relations, which we are going to start on, we are going to rip each other apart.
"But that is part of negotiations, everyone will defend their own interests.
"Let's hope the talks are done as quickly as possible, but there are a lot of issues and some difficult points to deal with."
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Mr Le Drian, who is a close ally of President Emmanuel Macron, is from the French fishing region of Brittany, with fisheries expected to be the first red line in the talks.
Mr Macron is thought to have spearheaded a new tough EU line on the talks, which was revealed in a Brussels negotiations blueprint today.
In the memo, the EU confirms it would seek to police UK subsidies, impose rules on its tax regime and ask the government to commit to aligning with the EU's standards forever.
The French President demanded the UK be forced to make stronger commitments on regulatory alignment in return for maintaining free trade.
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He warned that British financial firms' access to the EU after Brexit would be restricted if Boris Johnson refuses to give up UK fishing waters.
Other EU member states were concerned that the hardline approach could blow up the talks before they even start.
In response, Britain accused the European Union of being “unreasonable”.
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Boris Johnson swiftly rejected the EU’s negotiation blueprint, after the Prime Minister took issue with Brussels' demand to have control over British taxes.
Prime Minister's chief Brexit negotiator, David Frost, is finalising the UK's demands in a bid to counter the EU.
Conservative sources claim Mr Frost and his team have been infuriated by the EU's demands in its draft mandate.
Mr Frost plans to point out to his Brussels counterparts that the EU removed 99.5 per cent of tariffs in its deal with Korea, 99 per cent with Japan and 98.7 per cent with Canada – and did not expect "regulatory alignment" with any of those countries.