Britain can't use Brexit divorce bill to blackmail EU on trade - source

Britain will fail if it wants to use a new crisis over fully implementing its divorce treaty with the EU to win concessions from the bloc in trade negotiations, a source with the bloc told Reuters on Thursday.

Britain will fail if it wants to use a new crisis over fully implementing its divorce treaty with the EU to win concessions from the bloc in trade negotiations, a source with the bloc told Reuters on Thursday. Britain and the European Union hold emergency talks on Thursday over Prime Minister Boris Johnson's plan to undercut parts of the Brexit divorce treaty, with Brussels exploring possible legal action against London.

The fresh row casts a shadow over the parallel and troubled negotiations between the two aimed at agreeing a new partnership from 2021 when Britain's post-Brexit standstill transition ends. "It is two different tracks. The Internal Market Bill cannot be used as leverage in the trade negotiations. If they try to do that it will fail," the EU source said under condition of anonymity.