London, Feb 27 (IANS) The UK government is set to publish its strategy for post-Brexit trade talks on Thursday, as it prepares for formal negotiations with the European Union (EU).
The government’s strategy will be put online and presented in Parliament, said the BBC in a report.
The UK strategy was agreed on Monday by the EU Exit Strategy (XS) committee, which includes new Chancellor Rishi Sunak, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab, senior cabinet minister Michael Gove and new Attorney General Suella Braverman.
All members of the committee supported Brexit during the 2016 referendum.
The UK officially left the EU on January 31, but is continuing to abide by many of the bloc’s rules while talks on a permanent trading relationship take place.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has pledged to get a deal with the EU by the end of the transition period – December 31, 2020 – and has said he was not prepared to extend that deadline.
Negotiations are due to begin in Brussels on March 2.
The UK’s team will be led by Johnson’s Europe adviser David Frost. The chief negotiator of the Brexit withdrawal agreement, Michel Barnier, will head up the EU’s delegation.
Both Frost and Johnson have said in recent weeks they want to seek a Canada-style agreement with zero tariffs from the EU, the BBC reported.
Barnier has rejected such a deal, saying the UK is not like Canada, and its geographical proximity would threaten competition between EU states.
–IANS
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