Boris Johnson’s chief negotiator in EU trade talks, David Frost, has said that the UK “must have the ability to set laws that suit us” during a speech at a Brussels university.
Frost was speaking at the Université Libre de Bruxelles [Free University of Brussels] as he outlined the UK’s approach ahead of trade negotiations, which will begin in earnest in March.
He said: "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.
"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.”
Frost emphasised that not agreeing to the level playing field was not “a simple negotiating position” but rather “the point of the whole Brexit project”.
Several EU officials, including European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and chief negotiator Michel Barnier have insisted that the UK must agree to a level playing field on social and environmental standards to avoid the bloc being undercut if British businesses have what they see as "high quality", tariff-free access to the EU single market.
The EU also wants the European Court of Justice to have legal rights to enforce the terms of any trade deal, an idea which Frost dismissed.
He said: “We only want what other independent countries have.
"How would you feel if the UK demanded that, to protect ourselves, the EU dynamically harmonise with our national laws set in Westminster and the decisions of our own regulators and courts?
"The more thoughtful would say that such an approach would compromise the EU's sovereign legal order."
Boris Johnson is known to favour a Canada-style free trade agreement with the EU, a point which Frost reiterated.
Frost echoed his prime minister's words once more by insisting that the Brexit transition period will not be extended beyond December 31, 2020 and that a trade deal must be signed off within that window.
