Withering verdict of EU’s Brexit chief

MICHEl Barnier delivered a withering verdict on the Prime Minister’s Chequers plan yesterday.

The European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator said he was strongly opposed to the proposals because they could herald the end of the single market.

Until now Mr Barnier had been restrained in his public criticism of the proposals amid fears in Brussels that their rejection could bring down Theresa May.

But he said the complex customs arrangements at the heart of the Chequers plan were unacceptable.

Allowing the UK to go its own way on services while sharing a ‘common rule book’ on goods would fatally undermine the single market, he said. And he insisted Brussels could not accept the idea of the UK collecting tariffs on its behalf.

‘We have a coherent market for goods, services, capital and people – our own ecosystem that has grown over decades. You cannot play with it by picking pieces,’ he told the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

‘There is another reason why I strongly oppose the British proposal. There are services in every product.

‘In your mobile phone, for example, it is 20 to 40 per cent of the total value. If we let the British pick the raisins out of our rules, that would have serious consequences. Then all sorts of other third countries could insist that we offer them the same benefits. That would be the end of the single market and the European project.’

A senior UK Government source played down his remarks, claiming Mr Barnier was under pressure from figures in the European Commission to sound tough and was worried about losing his mandate.

Ministers still hope that EU leaders will force Brussels to change its approach. But Tory Eurosceptic Peter Bone said that Mr Barnier’s comments showed the EU had no interest in cutting a deal.

Mr Bone added: ‘It is up to the EU whether it wants a sensible deal, as the Prime Minister wants, or we come out on WTO terms. Until now we have always rolled over.’ Mr Barnier yesterday acknowledged it would be much easier if Britain stayed close to the EU – an idea rejected by MPs in July.

He added: ‘The British have a choice. They could stay in the single market, like Norway, which is also not a member of the EU – but they would then have to take over all the associated rules and contributions to European solidarity. It is their choice.’

Mr Barnier also warned that manufacturing firms with complex supply chains would suffer: ‘Businesses have to be careful not to use too many parts from Britain in their vehicles in the future.’

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