UK Cabinet Minister Michael Gove said on Monday that the UK is ready to resume post-Brexit trade talks with the European Union provided the bloc changes its current stance on fishing quotas and the level-playing field
LONDON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th October, 2020) UK Cabinet Minister Michael Gove said on Monday that the UK is ready to resume post-Brexit trade talks with the European Union provided the bloc changes its current stance on fishing quotas and the level-playing field.
"The door is not closed, it remains ajar, and I very much hope that the EU fundamentally changes its position," Gove told parliament.
Gove, who has been in charge of the Brexit process that started on January 31 with the UK's withdrawal from the UE, blamed Brussels for the current deadlock, accusing it of refusing to accelerate negotiations and discuss legal texts.
He stressed that the EU's proposals on fishing quotas are unacceptable since they would mean the UK providing "full, permanent access to our fishing water," while the UK cannot operate under the proposed state aid system, because it gives "great discretion" to the EU to retaliate.
As Gove was still addressing the House of Commons, EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier wrote on Twitter that the EU "remains available" to intensify talks based on legal texts.
"I confirmed that the EU remains available to intensify talks in London this week, on all subjects, and based on legal texts. We now wait for the UK's reaction," Barnier tweeted.
Reacting to Barnier's tweet, Gove immediately welcomed the announcement, but said that "we need to make sure we work on the basis of the proposed intensification that they propose."
"I prefer to look forward in optimism rather than back in anger," he stressed.
The UK left the European bloc on January 31, but as part of the withdrawal agreement, both sides entered an 11-month transition period to negotiate their future commercial relations.
If no trade deal is secured before the transition period expires on December 31, the World Trade Organization's rules for both parties will come into effect starting in 2021, including customs tariffs and full border checks for UK goods entering the EU.
