British Prime Minister Theresa May dismissed warnings Friday that the EU’s troubled free trade deal with Canada raised serious questions about whether London could strike a similar agreement after Brexit.
The EU-Canadian deal, which has been seven years in the making, was due to be finalized at the European Union summit but risks collapsing following opposition from a Belgian regional government.
May has not yet outlined her strategy for implementing the June vote to leave the EU, but has left open the possibility that Britain might leave the bloc’s single market and replace it with a new trade arrangement.
After her first EU summit concluded Friday, she said she supported the Canadian deal but added: “We’re not looking to replicate a model that somebody else has.”
May said Friday that negotiations “will take time, there will be difficult moments, it will need some give and take,” but told reporters she was “optimistic” that a deal could be struck.
The Conservative leader is expected to start the formal two-year exit process by the end of March, putting Britain on course to leave the EU by early 2019.
The near-collapse of the EU-Canada deal has however prompted fears for an eventual British deal.
“If the EU does not succeed in agreeing a commercial or economic treaty with Canada, it will be difficult to do so with Britain,” Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel warned.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said last week that the Canadian deal was the only model for a future pact between the EU and post-Brexit Britain, more so than Norwegian or Swiss models that have been previously touted.
May has said she wants to control immigration and remove Britain from the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice — both requirements of single market membership.
At her first bilateral meeting with European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker on Friday, May repeated her desire for immigration controls and a “positive outcome” for trade in goods and services, her spokeswoman said.
Britain cannot begin trade talks with non-EU countries until it has left, prompting concern among businesses that it could leave the single market with no new deals in place.
“I’ve been clear the UK has been discussing our future trading relationship with third countries,” May told a press conference shortly before the Juncker talks.
“This will not undermine the EU’s trade agenda, it is not even in competition with it. We will continue to help the EU reach those important trade agreements.
“It’s about seizing the opportunities of Brexit and forging an ambitious and optimistic new role for Britain in the world.”
May took pains at the summit to emphasize that she would still play a role in the bloc until Britain leaves, including pressing for tough action on Russia over Syria.
But Manfred Weber, a German MEP and leader of the European People’s Party group, said this approach was “creating a lot of anger.”
“It’s not really normal that such a member who wants to leave a club wants to decide about the future of the club. That is really creating a lot of anger,” he told BBC radio.
May was excluded from last month’s summit in Bratislava, where the other EU leaders discussed the future of the bloc.
In a discussion on the Bratislava conclusion on Thursday, May warned she would not “rubber-stamp” decisions made by the other members, according to a EU source.
She said Friday that “of course the 27 will have to take discussions among themselves” over Brexit negotiations.
“But we will continue to play our role as I have done sitting around the table today. I can assure you that I haven’t been backwards in coming forward on issues,” she said.

Source: Arab News