UK digs in against EU shared rules

Brexit chief says trade independence is fundamental in tough Brussels speech

The United Kingdom's chief Brexit negotiator has rejected the European Union's demand for a so-called level playing field in a hard-line speech setting out the British government's position on upcoming trade negotiations.

David Frost also said that any idea that the UK should follow EU rules would be contrary to the "fundamentals of what it means to be an independent country".

The UK "must have the ability to set laws that suit us", Frost said in a speech delivered to students and academics at the Universite libre de Bruxelles in Brussels.

The speech came after France warned the two sides would "rip each other apart" in trade talks ahead of the UK's scheduled exit from a Brexit transition period at the end of this year.

In his first public speech since his appointment to the role, Frost said the democratic consent of the British public would "snap dramatically and finally" if the UK continued to be tied to EU rules.

"It is central to our vision that we must have the ability to set laws that suit us－to claim the right that every other non-EU country in the world has," Frost said on Monday.

"So to think that we might accept EU supervision on so-called level playing field issues simply fails to see the point of what we are doing.

"It isn't a simple negotiating position which might move under pressure－it is the point of the whole project."

He insisted that the ability to break free from the EU's rule book was essential to the purpose of Brexit and that the UK's position would be tabled in "written form "next week. "We are not looking for anything special," he said.

Frost reiterated British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's assertion that there will be no extension to the transition period past the end of the year. He said: "At that point we recover our political and economic independence in full－why would we want to postpone it?"

Bruising battle

It follows comments by French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves le Drian, who predicted a bruising battle when negotiations on a post-Brexit deal begin next month.

"I think that on trade issues and the mechanism for future relations, which we are going to start on, we are going to rip each other apart," he said at the annual Munich Security Conference.

"But that is part of negotiations; everyone will defend their own interests." Le Drian, a close ally of French President Emmanuel Macron, is the latest senior EU figure to warn that the negotiations will be difficult.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and chief negotiator Michel Barnier have both cast doubt over Johnson's aim to reach a comprehensive agreement by Dec 31 when the Brexit transition period runs out.

The EU has repeatedly warned Britain that it cannot expect to enjoy continued "high-quality "market access if it insists on diverging from EU social and environmental standards.

ITV reports that a particularly tough fight is expected over fishing rights, with the EU insisting continued access to UK waters must form part of any agreement.