PLOT TO FORCE EU RULES ON UK AFTER BREXIT
CLAIMS that Brussels will demand Britain accepts any new EU rules drawn up in the two years after Brexit provoked an outcry last night.
Chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier suggested Britain must adopt any new regulations during the “implementation period” after leaving in 2019 if it wants a good transition deal, leaked papers showed yesterday.
That would mean Britain would be subject to fresh Brussels diktats for two years, while having no say in their drafting.
Accepting such an arrangement is likely to trigger a mass revolt by Brexiteers in seeking a clean break as soon as possible.
Former Ukip leader Nigel Farage said: “Here is another set of unreasonable demands from Barnier making ‘no deal’ seem more attractive,” he told the Daily Express.
“The European Commission are clearly not interested in genuine negotiations. It would be better for us to walk away and save a lot of time.”
Mr Farage said earlier on LBC radio that Mr Barnier’s demand reminded him of US independence protests again British rule in the 18th century.
The MEP said: “Our good friend Mr Barnier has said that during the transition period, all new EU laws that get made will apply directly to the UK. But of course, we won’t be able to be in the room and even help discuss their formation. It almost makes you, doesn’t it, think of ‘no taxation without representation’ . But that approach apparently is what the PM wants to sign us up for.”
Mr Farage said he was sceptical about Theresa May’s confidence there were unlikely to be new EU laws made during the transition period.
Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has previously indicated that agreeing to new regulations from Brussels after exit day would be a “red line” for him.
Mrs May has said she envisages it would simply be “the existing structure of EU rules and regulations” that would apply to Britain during the transition.
It takes on average five years to get a new EU directive from drafting to implementation.
Therefore it is very unlikely new rules could be implemented within the transition period which the UK had not been involved in, sources said. Mr Barnier’s thinking was reportedly contained in a presentation drawn up for representatives from the other 27 EU member states.
Separately, UK ministers were said to have discussed offering the EU a compromise whereby Britain would agree to a temporary system of “voluntary references” of cases involving EU citizens’ rights to the European Court of Justice after Brexit.
But that would end before the two years if a new dispute resolution system could be devised more quickly.
Both the Prime Minister and European Council President Donald Tusk said last week that progress has been made on the divorce bill, and they were optimistic that the deadlock could be broken next month. But International Trade Secretary Liam Fox yesterday accused Brussels of putting politics ahead of ordinary people’s wellbeing as he called on EU countries to push for faster progress.
He insisted that the major sticking point of how to handle the border with Ireland could not be fully resolved until the shape of the future trade relations with Europe is known.
With Brussels negotiators reportedly satisfied that the UK is ready to hand over more than £40billion – although the final figure could be kept a secret – the Irish border has gained new prominence as a roadblock.
EU negotiators have said they cannot recommend moving to trade talks at next month’s summit of EU leaders until there has been “sufficient progress” on the border, European nationals’ rights and the exit bill.
Irish PM Leo Varadkar wants a written commitment that Northern Ireland will keep “regulatory convergence” with the EU after Brexit.
Yesterday, Ireland’s EU Commissioner Phil Hogan urged Mrs May to agree Britain will stay in the single market and customs union or let Northern Ireland do so.
But Dr Fox said: “We have made very clear that we don’t want there to be a hard border but that the UK is going to be leaving the customs union and the single market.”