UK government plan to ditch EU regulations means British firms could be locked out, Brussels warns

Tariff and quota free access sought by UK dependent on signing up to 'level playingfield'

(Getty)

The UK government's plan to ditch alignment on EU rules will see some British firms locked out of EU markets after Brexit, Brussels has warned.

Over the weekend the chancellor Sajid Javid indicated that the UK would put itself far from the orbit of European regulations – in a departure from the strategy laid out by Theresa May

"There will not be alignment, we will not be a rule-taker, we will not be in the single market and we will not be in the customs union – and we will do this by the end of the year," Mr Javid told the Financial Times.

But the comments have provoked a stern warning from the continent. Asked about the pledge European Commission said on Monday that any divergence would see UK firms given less market access in the upcoming trade deal.

"We've made out position very clear, there is a link between moving away from EU regulation and the degree of access that's possible under the single market," the spokesperson spokesperson told reporters in Brussels on Monday

Ireland's deputy prime minister Simon Coveney also weighed in, warning that there was "no way EU will ever sign up to a trade deal that allows tariff and quota free and frictionless access to UK goods if there isn’t a Level Playing Field in terms of how they’re produced".

He added: "I don’t think anyone in UK should underestimate the strength of feeling."

Trade talks are expected to begin in February after the UK has left the bloc. The European Commission has spent the last few weeks getting member states on the same page with as series of seminars in Brussels attended by diplomats.

The EU is particularly worried that a deregulated UK would undercut European products if it was given open access to EU markets.

Theresa May had previously suggested the UK would sign up to some rules to secure access, but under Boris Johnson the UK has turned towards a more "basic" free trade agreement that would give less access. The UK however still says it wants zero tariffs and quotas on British goods entering the single market – which Mr Coveney says will be dependent on signing up to a level playingfield.