UK and EU clash over trade with 11 months to make a deal

Britain and the European Union set out clashing opening gambits on striking a post-Brexit trade deal, making it clear that each side is willing to walk away without an agreement rather than compromise on key issues.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson sent a bravado-filled salvo toward Brussels on Monday, three days after Britain left the bloc, the first country to exit.

In a speech to business leaders and international diplomats in London, Johnson said, "We want a free trade agreement", but not at any cost.

"I see no need to bind ourselves to an agreement with the EU," he said, insisting that the UK would "restore full sovereign control" over its borders, rules and economy.

EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier was equally emphatic that the EU's 27 remaining nations wouldn't agree to any British trade deal just to avoid a costly, chaotic "no-deal" at the start of 2021, when an 11-month post-Brexit transition period ends.

"We are in favour of free trade, but we are not going to be naive," Barnier said. "If the request is to have broad access to a market of 450 million European consumers, zero tariffs, zero quotas that won't happen for nothing, or in any kind of condition."
"The UK can independently decide not to respect the rules," said France's Europe Minister Amelie de Montchalin before pointedly adding: "But when it passes the frontier, it concerns the place where it arrives...It is important for European citizens to know that the single market will be protected."