London sees possible a minimum agreements with the EU could impose tariffs

London, 6 jun (EFE).- The british Government maintains the confidence in unlock at the political level, the negotiation of a Brexit in the next few weeks, even if it is in the direction of an agreement of minimum standards which might include tariffs on the trade of some goods, such as agricultural products.
The fourth round of technical contacts between both sides of the English channel has been closed without progress, but London expected to play new cards at the meeting which is expected towards the middle of this month between the british prime minister, Boris Johnson, and the heads of the institutions of the European Union (EU).
The United Kingdom insists that it will miss the deadline of the 30 June without seeking an extension of the period of transition, which forces you to have ready some sort of pact before the end of the year to avoid a breakdown of control.
Michel Barnier, the eu’s trade negotiator, has set October 31 as the deadline after which the EU should begin to ratify an eventual treaty. The british Government, however, committed to close before a text, even though it is less ambitious than what both parties expected at the beginning of the dialogue.
Johnson does not want to go until fall without having contributed anything of clarity to their companies, which should begin to prepare for the changes ahead while capean at the same time the crisis of the coronavirus.
“For us, October is too late to close this,” said a senior official in the negotiating team british after the latest round of dialogue.
To speed up the process, the british want to intensify the contacts, to work from now on in the negotiating groups are smaller and specific, and back to meeting face-to-face, instead of via video conferencing.
With that plan, expect to work “between now and July” to “unlock” the dialogue, noted that negotiator.
POSSIBILITY OF TARIFFS
The british Government rejects a approach to “binary” in that the agreement is either a pact with zero tariffs, zero quotas and maximum mutual access to all markets, or a break without an agreement.
Insists that prefer a scenario without tariffs, but admits that this option has been valued at the negotiating table. Though you have not discussed yet the possible areas to which to apply the tariffs, the negotiators british detail that the agricultural products could be included in this category.
From the point of view of the United Kingdom, accept that their agricultural exports to the EU going to be taxed can be a political problem, given that the Government might find strong opposition in rural areas of the country.
Some experts, such as David Henig, director of the think tank European Centre for International Economic Policy (ECIPE, in English), have warned of the possibility of negotiating tariffs is complicated due to the shortage of time.
LACK OF PROGRESS
The british team said that “some of the things that three months ago were not possible now”, but maintains that its position regarding the two thorniest issues of the dialogue remains unchanged.
The Uk for now is not giving ground in terms of fishing quotas, which the EU wants to keep unchanged, as before the Brexit, and London wants to go to negotiate with Brussels annually, in an arrangement similar to that of Norway.
There is also no approach in terms of the “level playing field” (“field of play in equal conditions”, in English), the term which in the slang of the negotiations refers to the norms and standards that the EU expected to follow the british companies that do not operate with competitive advantages.
Barnier has accused London of back on the terms of the policy statement on the future trade agreement that was signed this year Johnson, which marked the roadmap for a treaty, although it is not legally binding.
The british Executive ensures it stays “engaged” with the text, but warns that interprets it as a document that “mark the parameters” of the dialog and “does not require that everything be agreed in the form of a treaty”.
Guillermo Ximenis