EU rejects May’s Brexit tariff plan
BRUSSELS: The EU’s chief negotiator has blown a hole in Theresa May’s Brexit plans by flatly rejecting a key element of her proposals for future relations following the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union.
Central to the UK prime minister’s plan, set out in a white paper a fortnight ago, is a ‘‘facilitated customs arrangement’’ under which tariffs charged at the border would go to either British or EU authorities depending on the destination of imported goods.
Appearing alongside Britain’s new Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab following their second round of talks in Brussels, Michel Barnier left no doubt that this was not acceptable to the EU.
‘‘The EU cannot and the EU will not delegate the application of its customs policy and rules and VAT and excises duty collection to a nonmember who would not be subject to the EU’s governance structures,’’ Barnier said.
Any customs arrangement ‘‘must respect this principle’’.
Raab signalled he was looking for compromise from Brussels, saying the EU was able to take an ‘‘innovative’’ approach ‘‘when the political will has been there’’.
He appeared to be making an attempt to separate the thorny issue of the Irish border from the rest of the Withdrawal Agreement which is due to be settled by October, repeatedly referring to a ‘‘protocol’’ on Northern Ireland.
But the EU negotiator bluntly rebuffed Raab’s suggestion the UK might tear up its promise to pay a £39 billion ($NZ75 billion) ‘‘divorce bill’’ unless it got a good deal on future trade.
Barnier told him that, while the commitment to a financial settle ment made by May in December was not yet in its final legal form, the 27 remaining EU members and European Parliament regard it as ‘‘agreed for good’’.
He also made clear Brussels still had reservations about May’s proposed ‘‘backstop’’ arrangement for the Irish border, which would result in the whole UK matching EU trade tariffs for a period if a trade deal was not reached by 2021.
‘‘We have no objection in principle to this but we have doubts that it can be done without putting at risk the integrity of our customs union or commercial policy or regulatory policy,’’ Barnier said.
Meanwhile, May said the public should be reassured rather than alarmed by government plans to stockpile medicines and blood products ahead of a possible nodeal Brexit.
Brexit campaigners say government warnings over what a nodeal Brexit could look like represent an attempt to scare people into backing May’s plans. — PA