UK's access to single market will hinge on alignment with EU – Barnier

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Britain’s access to the European Union’s single market will depend on its alignment with the bloc’s rules and regulations, EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said on Friday.

He said an offer of zero tariffs and zero quotas on all goods to the UK, which left the EU last week, would be conditional on open and fair competition and there should be a level playing field over the long term on social, state aid and environmental standards.

Barnier was announcing the European Commission’s mandate from the EU’s 27 member states for negotiations with Britain on the future relationship between London and Brussels.

(Reporting by John Chalmers)