the brexit trade talks are struggling
for the uk any deal must involve being
free
of eu rules this is not a trade deal so
this
ceased to be a trade deal right now the
discussion is about sovereignty for the
eu
both sides must follow the same rules
we must have a level playing field not
only for today but for the future
but is the eu treating the uk
differently
certainly there's a perception among
brexit supporters that it's not being
fair listen to boris johnson i don't
believe this is because those are terms
that
any prime minister of this country
should
accept or there's the conservative mp
daniel kaczynski who accuses the eu of
acting in a highly irresponsible and
wholly unreasonable way
but has the eu demanded more from the uk
in short it has the eu wants the uk to
agree to shared rules on government
subsidies
on workers rights on environmental and
food standards
and it wants the uk to remain in sync in
the future too
well the uk rejects that and this does
go beyond other trade deals the eu has
struck with canada and with japan
but the eu has its justification one mep
puts it this way it would be super
economic suicide for the european union
to basically undermine one not of its
pillars but one of its foundations
the single market the point being if a
trade deal is done
but the uk has different rules
potentially its businesses
benefit and as the bbc's chris morris
explains that possibility
connects to the eu's approach one of the
reasons that being stricter and harsher
is because
the uk is a major global economy right
on its doorstep so it thinks it needs to
be harsher because
the uk has the potential to be a much
bigger competitive threat
so those are the eu's demands and the
justification
but are they unusual does this happen in
other major trade deals around the world
well not to this degree recently these
15 countries created a vast
trading block they don't share
regulations though their level of free
trade isn't the same as the eu
and the uk are hoping for or there's the
recent free trade deal in north america
the u.s insisted on certain wage levels
in the car industry
to stop mexico having an advantage but
there's nothing as wide-ranging as the
eu is asking for here
so this is different the analyst annan
menon
argues the eu is being too defensive it
underestimates the strength of the
single market
and the impact on the uk of leaving it
and no doubt the eu
is a huge economic force but still it
argues
this defense is necessary and back in
2017
the then uk international trade
secretary liam fox
didn't foresee this approach the free
trade agreement that we will have to
come to with the european union
should be one of the easiest in human
history that
has not come to pass the eu is asking
for a lot
but its single market is its greatest
asset and brexit rejects the very idea
of the eu
this is a unique eu response to what it
sees as a unique threat
whether fair or not none of this should
come as a surprise