Brexit in crisis as UK threatens to undermine divorce treaty

LONDON, September 7

Britain's tortuous divorce from the European Union veered into fresh crisis on Monday after London signalled it could undermine the exit agreement with Brussels unless free trade terms are agreed by next month.

In yet another twist to the four-year saga since Britain voted narrowly to quit the EU, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government was reportedly planning new legislation to override parts of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement it signed in January.

That could potentially jeopardise the whole treaty and create frictions in British-ruled Northern Ireland, where special arrangements had been made to avoid a hard border with Ireland to the south that could be detrimental to a peace agreement.

Britain said it would honour the deal and was simply offering clarifications to avoid any future legal difficulties.

But the Financial Times newspaper cited three people as saying the proposed internal market bill was expected to "eliminate the legal force of parts of the withdrawal agreement" in areas including state aid and Northern Ireland customs.

Oct 15 deadline for deal

London has set a deadline of October 15 to strike a deal. If we can’t agree by then, I do not see that there will be a free trade agreement between us, and we should both accept that and move on. —Boris Johnson, PM

British want best of both worlds

I remain worried ... the negotiations are difficult, because the British want the best of both worlds. —Michel Barnier, EU Chief Negotiator

EU diplomats were aghast, cautioning that such a step - leaked on the eve of new talks in London - would tarnish Britain's global prestige and heighten chances of a tumultuous final disentangling from the bloc on December 31. Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney asked: "Is this political gamesmanship or is there really a piece of legislation that's going to emerge this week, which is contrary to the withdrawal agreement? We'll have to wait and see." Without a deal, about $900 billion annual trade between Britain and the EU could be thrown into uncertainty, including rules on everything from car parts and medicines to fruit and data.. —Reuters

EU: Overriding pact ‘self-defeating’

BRUSSELS: Britain's reported plans to override parts of its Brexit divorce deal would amount to ‘a desperate and ultimately self-defeating strategy’, a diplomat said. ‘Pacta sunt servanda’ meaning ‘agreements must be kept’ is a fundamental principle, an EU diplomat said. Reuters