EU has no legal duty to give UK trade privileges, document says
2020-06-02 09:23:58 source：The Guardian
June 1, 2020
The EU has no legal duty to grant the UK privileges offered to other countries in trade deals, an internal European parliament paper has concluded ahead of a crucial round of Brexit talks this week.
The document, drawn up by officials for the parliament’s UK coordination group, is a short analysis of arguments made by the UK’s chief negotiator, David Frost, in a letter to his counterpart, Michel Barnier. Frost accused the EU of treating the UK as an “unworthy” negotiating partner by denying the UK “the kind of well-precedented arrangements commonplace in modern FTAs [free trade agreements]”.
EU negotiators were deeply irritated by the letter: they countered that every deal is unique and any agreement with the UK must reflect its proximity and potential to become an economic competitor undercutting European rivals.
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