LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Boris Johnson will lay out his negotiating terms for talks with the European Union on Monday, saying Britain will prosper even if he cannot strike his preferred trade deal.After marking Britain’s departure from the EU at a party in his Downing Street residence on Friday, Johnson will use a speech to ram home his message that Brexit, for him, means that sovereignty trumps the economy.
The sides have until the end of the year, when a standstill transitional period expires, to try to secure a deal on trade and future relations - something London and Brussels both say they want to do, but on very different terms.
Trade talks will begin in March. After criticising his predecessor Theresa May’s approach in negotiating a divorce deal with the EU, Johnson is striking a much tougher tone, saying Britain will not adhere to the bloc’s rules and regulations.
And he will say that, if the EU fails to grant a trade deal allowing for tariff- and quota-free trade in goods, similar to the terms the bloc now has in place with Canada, Britain will pursue a much looser arrangement, like one Australia has.