The German government is urging other EU states to prepare for a no deal Brexit, according an internal document that casts doubt on Britain’s optimism over chances of an early agreement on its future ties with the bloc.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who confirmed last week that Britain has no intention of extending that transition beyond 2020, wants to strike a free trade deal quickly.
“TRANSITION DEAL WILL NOT BE EXTENDED BEYOND THE END OF 2020”
On Monday, he suggested an agreement could be reached in July with “a bit of oomph”. But the German government document shows Berlin expects the negotiations to take longer. “From September, the negotiations enter a hot phase,” it read. “Britain is already escalating threats in Brussels, wants to settle as much as possible in the shortest possible time and hopes to achieve last-minute success in the negotiations.”
The German Foreign Office was convinced the transition deal would not be extended beyond the end of this year, the government document showed.
“It is therefore important to preserve the unity of the 27, to continue to insist on parallel progress in all areas (overall package) and to make it clear that there will be no agreement at any price,” the document read. “Therefore, both national and European contingency planning would now have to start in order to be prepared for a no deal 2.0.”
The withdrawal agreement on Britain’s departure was only struck after bitter negotiations that threatened to end in a no deal Brexit, but Berlin did not believe the situation was as critical this time around.