Commission warns UK: Keep trade talks informal

Discussions are fine, negotiations are not, Commission says as Britain prepares for talks with Australia.

European Commission spokesperson Margaritis Schinas warned the United Kingdom that it is playing with fire by opening trade talks with Australia.

Addressing reports of preliminary trade talks between the U.K. and Australia being held in London later this week, Schinas said: “There is nothing in the treaties that prohibits you from discussing trade,” but warned “you can only negotiate a trade agreement after you leave the European Union.”

Schinas quoted Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, who in September 2016 said: “I do not like that member states of the European Union, including those that are still a member state, are negotiating free trade agreements. This is an exclusive matter of the European Union.”

Speaking to reporters at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, EU Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström said trade discussions are “perfectly normal” but trade negotiations before Brexit are definitely not allowed.

The U.K. may also find the discussions trickier than expected. Australia’s high commissioner to London, Alexander Downer, told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that easier immigration for Australians to the U.K. would be part of Australia’s demands. “We would want to see greater access for Australian businesspeople working in the U.K,” Downer said.