The Dutch Prime Minister has said Boris Johnson’s ideas about implementing a transition period after a no-deal Brexit are not possible.
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The Tory leadership candidate has suggested Britain could continue to have the benefits of being a EU member state during the transition period, even in a hard Brexit scenario, and that the end of the transition could be delayed from December 2020 to December 2021.
But Mark Rutte appeared to pour cold water on Mr Johnson’s ideas, saying there could not be a transition period without a full Withdrawal Agreement.
“As Boris would say Brexit is Brexit. I would say a hard Brexit is a hard Brexit. I don’t see how you can sweeten that,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
‘It will be chaos’
Mr Rutte also said it was not true that the transition period could keep no deal chaos at bay. “It will be chaos. At the moment UK growth is coming down… it will have a huge impact.”
He maintained that he did not want Britain to leave the bloc without a deal, saying it would leave the UK a “diminished country”.
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“I hate it. I hate Brexit from every angle. I hate a no-deal Brexit from every angle. But it’s not up to me,” said Mr Rutte, who called himself a “certified Anglophile”.
“It will have an impact on the economy here, in Ireland, in parts of France, in Belgium, in Denmark, but it will first of all have a huge impact on the United Kingdom. With a hard Brexit, even with a normal Brexit, the UK will be a different country.
“It will be a diminished country. It is unavoidable because you are no longer part of the European Union and you are not big enough to have an important position on the world stage on your own. I’m absolutely convinced if it’s a hard Brexit, economically the impact is even bigger. I don’t want it but I cannot make changes to the UK negotiating position,” he said.
Red lines
Mr Rutte said he hoped the new British Prime Minister would look at the details of Brexit and change the UK’s red lines.
“Because if the position doesn’t change, the only solution on the table is the present solution because there is no other technical or logistical solution given the current red lines being drawn by Theresa May and her Government.”
Parliament has voted down the current Brexit deal three times. Mrs May’s failure to secure a deal acceptable to MPs eventually led to her resignation.
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Mr Rutte said it would be pointless for the new Prime Minister to ask for a Brexit extension beyond the current exit deadline of 31 October unless he was willing to compromise on the current negotiating position.
Renegotiating the Withdrawal Agreement, which lays down the terms of the UK’s exit from the EU, was impossible by 31 October. But changes could be made to the political declaration, which sets out the UK’s future relationship with the EU.
“What we could do is look together collectively again at the political agreement, which is let’s say below the Withdrawal Agreement, and there we would make certain changes if the UK will tell us how they want to deal with the border, the issue of Northern Ireland staying an integral part of the UK… if there are no changes on all those positions, I cannot see why it makes any sense to negotiate any longer,” said Mr Rutte.
‘Reality check’
Mr Rutte’s stark warning about a no-deal Brexit was welcomed by Labour MP Wes Streeting.
“Mark Rutte, a friend of the UK, delivering a much-needed reality check to Tory leadership candidates on what will be possible before October 31st. If they have any sense they’ll be listening closely,” he tweeted.
