On Christmas Eve, the UK and the EU struck an eleventh-hour Trade Co-Operation Agreement (TCA) after months of negotiations. The agreement set in place the trading arrangements which were to come into force at the end of the transition period on January 1.
This week MEPs on the European Parliament’s trade and foreign affairs committees gave their consent to the deal raising hopes of a possible improvement in strained relations between the two sides over the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol.
But after weeks of delay, Brussels ministers have still not formally ratified the deal.
In an Express.co.uk poll – which ran 10.30am to 8.30pm today – asked: “Should Boris Johnson punish EU if Brussels misses trade deal deadline?”
Out of 5,380 votes, 98 percent of people urged the Prime Minister to punish the EU if the deadline if missed.
Just two percent said no and 25 people said they didn’t know.
One Express.co.uk reader said: “I thought the EUs refusal to agree to deals in the past was due to stubbornness.
“The vaccine fiasco has proved that actually, it’s down to incompetence.
“High time to just walk away from the train wreck that is the EU and have a clean break.”
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“We want NO agreements with the mendacious crooks that are still trying to control.”
A fourth reader said: “If we don’t act decisively over the deadline and refuse to extend it the EU will see us as weak and run us ragged.
“Boris must not offer an extension and repeal the deal and WA at 11pm on the last day of April if they do not ratify the deal.”
Someone else said there is “no need for punishment” but urged Mr Johnson to “switch to a WTO arrangement”.
They said: “No need for punishment – just switch to a WTO arrangement, clamp down on foreign fishing and remove the NI Protocol.
“It’s what Brexit should have been about in the first place.”
Others call for the Prime Minister to walk away from any trade deal with the EU as they are “punishing themselves”.
Another person added: “The whole thing should be ripped up.
“Enough warnings given, and the EU may act stupid, but intelligent enough to negotiate the deal in the first place.
“However, whether this government has the guts to do it, is another matter, and more than likely to just roll over, again.”
In a warning to Brussels, a Downing Street spokesman said: “We have agreed to extend the deadline for the EU to ratify the deal to 30 April and we expect them to complete their processes to this timeline.”
The ratification of the deal has been further complicated by simmering tensions between UK and EU negotiators over the full implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol after Brexit.
