EU ‘will reject any deal that fails to protect level playing field on workers’ rights’

The EU will not sign any trade deal with the UK that risks a “race to the bottom” on workers’ rights.

This is according to a draft resolution of the European Parliament, seen by the Guardian, which warns the UK government that the level playing field on workers’ rights and other standards must be protected.

The text, which will be put to the vote among European Parliament trade and foreign affairs committees today, urges Boris Johnson and his team to “revise its negotiating position” and adopt “robust” safeguards for social and competition laws.

A level playing field is the “necessary condition for the European parliament to give its consent to a trade agreement with the UK”, it continues.

David Frost, the UK’s Chief Negotiator, has already rejected such a position, saying: “We cannot accept any alignment with EU rules”.