London: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has issued the starkest warning yet that the UK could be out of the EU on January 1, 2021, without a trade agreement in place as the two sides remain divided on key areas amidst last-ditch talks between the chief Brexit negotiators.
After Johnson's urgent talks with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels failed to break the logjam over the European Union (EU) fishing rights in UK territorial waters as a non-member and competition rules for businesses, the Prime Minister admitted that a Sunday deadline for their next discussion does not hold out great promise.
"At the moment, I have to tell you in all candour, the treaty is not there yet and that was the strong view of our Cabinet," Johnson said on Thursday night.
"There's a strong possibility that we will have a solution much more like Australian relationship with the EU than a Canadian relationship with the EU," he said.
An Australia-style agreement effectively means no trade agreement and the two sides would then be trading on World Trade Organisation (WTO) norms, with considerable barriers to movement of goods as well as
people.
With the UK no longer signed up to the EU rules, it would also mean travel restrictions for Britons travelling to and from the EU at the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31, given the Coronavirus pandemic lockdown rules.
"I think there is a significant possibility we could get that deal and I think we should continue to work towards it [but a deal] can't come at any price," said UK culture secretary Oliver Dowden during media interviews on
Friday.
"We're pretty much 90 per cent of the way there, but there are these two areas which are outstanding and which no reasonable prime minister could accept. Namely, we do need to control our own sovereign waters and particularly our fishing policy, he
said.