Theatrics and brinkmanship have become a wearyingly familiar part of Brexit. Downing Street’s declaration on Friday that talks on a future trade accord were “over” appears a reprise of Boris Johnson’s tactics in exit talks a year ago: threaten no deal, use that as political cover to make concessions, then sell the final agreement as a triumph for toughness. The prime minister’s claim that the UK is ready to go it alone when the transition period ends in December is surely a bluff. Brussels knows that. The danger is that miscalculations blow up the talks despite both sides’ desire for a deal. That would be worse for the UK — but, on top of a resurgent pandemic, it would damage the EU too.
戏剧性与边缘政策已成为英国脱欧中令人生厌的熟悉套路。唐宁街上周五宣布关于脱欧后贸易协定的谈判已“结束”，这似乎重演了一年前鲍里斯•约翰逊(Boris Johnson)在脱欧谈判中使用的策略：以无协议脱欧为要挟，将此作为政治掩护做出让步，然后再将最后达成的协议鼓吹为显示了强硬的胜利。这位英国首相声称英国准备在12月脱欧过渡期结束后无协议脱欧，这无疑是虚张声势。布鲁塞尔方面心知肚明。风险在于尽管双方都希望达成协议，但误判会使谈判破裂。对英国来说这造成的损害更大——但在第二波新冠疫情来袭之际，这也会给欧盟(EU)造成损害。