EU to offer UK a ‘supercharged’ free trade deal next week

Negotiations are moving forward. A new proposal will be discussed ahead of the EU Summit 17 October. Maybe a Canada+++ FTA, facilited and simplified customs formalities possible. Will this be enough? There is a chance, but it is still a long way to go.

The EU is preparing to offer Theresa May a “supercharged” free trade deal but will reject Mrs May’s demands for frictionless trade, it has emerged.

The offer from Brussels, which will be put to British negotiators on Wednesday, is said to contain “30 to 40 per cent” of the demands made in Mrs May’s Chequers proposal.

Ireland’s Europe Minister suggested on Friday that a deal could be done “in the next 10 days”.

However, Government sources made it clear Mrs May will not be “pressured” into softening her Brexit red lines, and in particular will not allow a customs border in the Irish Sea.

“A new potential deal proposal could be tariff-free but would not allow completely frictionless trade, only ”as frictionless as possible”.

One Whitehall source accused Brussels of “gamesmanship” after EU diplomatic sources said a deal was “very close”, suggesting the EU was putting out positive language so it could blame Britain if no deal could be done.

Sources in Brussels suggested the deal offered to Mrs May would be tariff-free but would not allow completely frictionless trade, because that would undermine the integrity of the single market. Instead it would describe the arrangement as being “as frictionless as possible”.

You can read the article here: EU to offer UK a ‘supercharged’ free trade deal next week

Source: The Telegraph