EU Warns of post-Brexit Trade ''Frictions''

• 03.07.2018, 23:26
•  Europe

EU-UK ties won't be "frictionless," but there's no need for a wall between neighbors, EU Council President Tusk has said. Still, guidelines he presented pour cold water on British calls for a post-Brexit free trade deal.

Britain's departure from the EU according to its own red lines would damage UK-EU trade and "limit the depth" of any future economic partnership, the EU warned on Wednesday, DW reported.

The warning comes days after May called for the "broadest and deepest possible agreement" to protect existing trade relations after Brexit occurs in March 2019.

In a document presented by Tusk, the EU said a post-Brexit trade deal would not make up for the British decision to leave the EU customs union and single market: "Being outside the customs union and the single market will inevitably lead to frictions [in trade]." This, it added, "will have negative economic consequences."