EU member States are determined to curtail Britain’s ability to hand out State money to prized industries as a key price for agreeing a trade deal, according to senior European diplomats, opening up a major battleground in the post-Brexit negotiations, reported the Financial Times.
Brussels, whose negotiating team will be headed by Michel Barnier, will insist that the UK sticks especially closely to EU State aid rules when it kicks off what are set to be fraught future relationship negotiations with Britain soon after Brexit day on Friday, January 31.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson last November caused concern in Brussels when he announced plans to make it “faster and easier” for the UK government to intervene in failing industries after Brexit.
He also said he would “fundamentally change” public procurement rules to “back British business.” Britain’s former ambassador to the EU Ivan Rogers claimed the idea appeared to mimic Donald Trump’s “Buy American” policy.
But the EU sees State aid as one of the most sensitive parts of the “level playing field” of common rules and standards that it says Britain must adhere to if it wants any trade deal — and it plans to impose requirements that go far beyond those demanded of other trading partners in this area.
Full Content: Financial Times
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