Downing Street hits back at 'ludicrous' EU threat to block UK food exports
Michel Barnier has been accused of making “explicit” threats to block the export of British food products to the European Union, in a move that could relegate the UK below countries such as Afghanistan.
Government sources on Friday night branded the threat, made publicly by the EU’s chief negotiator, as “utterly ludicrous” and warned that it would have serious repercussions for future relations.
They also pointed out that due to Northern Ireland remaining subject to EU food rules under the Withdrawal Agreement, it could also lead to complications for goods heading from Great Britain to the province in the event of no deal situation.
Ministers are now understood to be urgently considering contingency plans, should Brussels follow through with the threat.
However, despite mounting tensions between the two sides, the Prime Minister’s spokesman has insisted that a trade deal was still possible by the UK’s deadline of mid-October.
The row came after Mr Barnier on Thursday hinted that Brussels could refuse to add the UK to a list of non-EU countries that can import agricultural goods into its territory after the transition period.
Third countries which have been permitted to export certain products of animal origin (such as seafood) range from Angola and the Ivory Coast, through to Kazakhstan and Guatemala, according to the European Commission’s website.
Number 10 had always expected to be added to the third country list regardless of whether a trade deal was struck because the UK’s food standards are currently aligned with the EU’s.
But after emerging from the eighth round of trade deal talks in London on Thursday, Mr Barnier said there were still “many uncertainties” about Britain’s new food standards regime.
“More clarity is needed for the EU to do the assessment for the third-country listing of the UK,” he added.
EU officials have also told the Telegraph that the UK has so far failed to provide the necessary information on its food standards regime for listing to be approved. However, Government sources have denied this.
Hitting back on Friday night, a senior Whitehall source accused Mr Barnier of trying to use the issue of animal exports, worth £5 billion to the UK annually, as “leverage” in the negotiations.
“It’s totally ludicrous that they would consider not granting us this,” they continued. “We are starting from a place of alignment because our food standards are the same as theirs. It would be extraordinary to withhold something like this. It’s a tool of leverage basically.”
A Government spokesman added: "The right to export is the absolute basis for a relationship between two countries that trade agricultural goods.
“It is a license to export and entirely separate from the issue of food standards. It would be very unusual for the EU to go down this route and deny the UK listing.”
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said a post-Brexit free trade deal with the EU is still possible, providing Brussels was prepared to show more “realism” in key areas, such as on fishing rights and the UK’s state aid rules.
"We have engaged constructively with the EU throughout this process. We have negotiated in good faith and we will continue to do so," he added.
"We do still believe that there is a deal to be reached. We will work hard to achieve it.
"What we have been asking for is for more realism on the EU side about what it means for the UK to have left the EU and to once again be a sovereign nation."
