Brussels warns UK against diverging from EU rules

Officials from the European Union warned businesses to “prepare for the worst” after UK Chancellor Sajid Javid's announced that the UK would diverge from EU rules after Brexit.

According to the Financial Times, officials in Brussels were left perplexed by Javid’s remarks and warned that such a move could mean an economically damaging split lay ahead at the end of 2020.

“In the end it is all rather simple: If Britain wants to diverge from EU rules, it will diverge,” the diplomat said. “Such an approach would obviously lead to new trade hurdles between Britain and the EU and in consequence less trade, less investments, less jobs.”

Javid urged businesses to “adjust” to a future where Britain no longer adhered to EU rules and regulations on Friday.

He said UK firms had already been preparing for a new relationship with the bloc since the 2016 referendum on Brexit.

"There will not be alignment, we will not be a ruletaker, 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,” he said on 17 January.

Unite, the UK’s largest union, said Javid’s refusal to align with EU trading rules could be fatal for automotive, aerospace, and food and drink manufacturers.