Dr. Martina Lawless:

In terms of the UK negotiating simultaneous free trade agreements with the EU and the US, there is quite a strong disconnect between the types of deals both those partners would seek. A political trade-off would need to be made on which one to prioritise. If the UK agreed a free trade deal of the type described by the Deputy with the US, that in any way lowered standards - particularly on food - EU negotiators would put an increased burden on checks and requirements for goods entering the EU market. While the UK Government claims to want both those free trade agreements, the types of policies and negotiations involved are quite strongly in conflict. We spoke earlier about how long free trade agreements take to negotiate, and that not all free trade agreements actually come to an agreement. The proposed deal between the EU and the US was never signed because of fundamental disagreements, particularly on food standards. It is very difficult to imagine the EU being any more sympathetic to imports from the UK which might potentially risk lower standard products as part of its supply chain.