The United Kingdom is set to remain in a constructive engagement with the European Union over talks of their future relationship, yet Britain still does not want to give up its rights as an independent state, a spokesman for the Prime Minister stated on Monday.
The UK and the EU are set to resume talks on Tuesday, as Britain’s chief negotiator David Frost hosted the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier for dinner on Monday.
Whilst the two parties are engaging with each other, there is still little progress on the several differences that divide them.
The spokesman stated that “Our position on our sovereignty, laws and fisheries is clear, we will not give up our rights as an independent state.”
Adding to this, he said that the UK will “continue to engage constructively with the EU on these key issues and will work hard to reach the broad outline of an agreement, but as we have been clear all along we are not asking for a special, bespoke or unique deal.”
The UK left the EU back in January, and is currently in a transitional period until the end of 2020, leaving some companies uneasy if the two do not manage to agree on a free trade deal.
The UK has ruled out the possibility of extending the transition period, with it wanting to “make progress as quickly as possible in order to give certainty and clarity to business”.
Meanwhile, several EU leaders have managed to agree on a deal of a €1.82 trillion budget, as well as a coronavirus recovery fund.
Officials have claimed that the EU agreed on a €750 billion fund to be sent to the countries hit hardest by COVID-19 in the form of loans and grants, with this being additional to the seven-year €1 trillion EU budget.
Whilst there has been plenty of agreement between EU officials, it was not as easy as it seems, with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel clashing with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz.
Macron reportedly accused Rutte of acting like former UK Prime Minister David Cameron, not wanting to cooperate for a deal.
This comes after Rutte and Kurz have made their thoughts about the possible EU deal known, with them, Denmark and Sweden becoming known as the ‘frugal four’.