Brexit pact in place, Johnson sees major changes ahead for Britain
British PM says his govt will 'do things differently where that's useful' for Britons
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Lorries queueing at the British port of Dover yesterday. While Britain's agreement on the exit from the European Union will allow for tariff-and quota-free trade in goods after Thursday, it does not apply to the service industry or financial services. Both sides have said new market access for financial services groups must be negotiated outside the agreement in specific equivalence deals.
PHOTO: REUTERS
LONDON • Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said major changes are coming in Britain as a result of the trade deal his government negotiated with the European Union (EU), completing the country's separation from the bloc, the Telegraph reported.
"We can't sort of suddenly decide that we're free and then not decide how to exercise it," he told the Sunday Telegraph in his first interview since the deal was reached last Thursday.
"This government has a very clear agenda to unite and level up and to spread opportunity across the country."
The agreement on the exit from the EU's single market and Customs union will allow for tariff-and quota-free trade in goods after this Thursday. It does not apply to the service industry - about 80 per cent of the British economy - or financial services.
The deal establishes a new framework for businesses on both sides of the Channel that leaves British companies facing more barriers to trade than they did while Britain was a member of the EU, though it also frees the British Parliament from many of the constraints imposed by EU membership.
Now that it has gained more freedom to independently set regulations, and financial and immigration policy, Britain would not "diverge for the sake of diverging", Mr Johnson said.
On the contrary, he added, his government would "do things differently where that's useful for the British people".
He said his threats to walk away from the talks and allow Britain to crash out of the EU this Friday were genuine and not a negotiating tactic. The deal was reached because EU negotiators knew that Britain would act with "absolute conviction" and "get up and walk away", he pointed out.
British negotiators were able to "neuter" EU efforts to bind Britain to move in lockstep in terms of setting standards in the future.
Those efforts by the EU have been "greatly watered down", said Mr Johnson.
The EU also faces little risk of Britain slapping tariffs on its goods in areas where British regulations are stricter than those of the EU.
"We could do it... but we'd be unlikely to do it because we don't really believe in tariffs," he told the newspaper.
"We believe in high standards. If the EU did something like that, it would have to be proportionate and approved by the arbitrator."
Mr David Frost, Britain's chief Brexit negotiator, hailed the free-trade agreement, telling reporters on a call on Saturday: "This should be the beginning of a moment of national renewal for us."
He noted that Britain can set "its own laws again".
Brexit offers Britain a chance to do things differently in financial services, Finance Minister Rishi Sunak said yesterday, but it will cooperate with the EU on an approach to the sector - despite little detail on the topic in the trade agreement.
From this Friday, British-based financial services groups lose automatic access to the EU's single market, and both sides have said new market access must be negotiated outside the trade agreement in specific equivalence deals.
The two sides will aim to agree a memorandum of understanding on regulatory cooperation in financial services by March next year, and Mr Sunak said such language should provide reassurance.
"This deal also provides reassurance because there's a stable regulatory cooperative framework mentioned in the deal," he added.
"I think (that) will give people reassurance that we will remain in close dialogue with our European partners when it comes to things like equivalence decisions."
BLOOMBERG, REUTERS