UK seeks customs deal to avoid border chaos

BRITAIN will seek to retain a temporary customs union with the EU for at least two years after Brexit to prevent border chaos, David Davis will announce today.

The Brexit Secretary will today publish a paper in which he will agree not to implement any free trade deals during an “interim” period. The document states that Britain is seeking the “freest and most frictionless possible trade in goods between the UK and the EU”.

The move is intended to reassure businesses that they will not face tariffs on goods and new customs checks when the country leaves the EU in March 2019.

However, Mr Davis will insist that Britain can use the time to negotiate formally and sign free trade deals with nations outside the EU that will be im- plemented after exit.

It is likely to lead to an argument with Brussels, which has said that Britain should not be allowed to do so.

The UK is also facing opposition from Ireland, which has threatened to block a transition deal amid concerns about customs arrangements on the border with Northern Ireland. The

dispute will deepen tomorrow when James Brokenshire, the Northern Ireland Secretary, publishes a paper setting out plans for “light touch” customs checks on the border between the North and the South.

It will also lead to questions from pro-european MPS over why Britain is leaving the customs union at all during the transition period.

Brussels is refusing to engage in discussions about its future relationship with the UK until after “sufficient progress” has been made in divorce talks, including the Brexit divorce bill.

Mr Davis wants talks about the future relationship in tandem with divorce talks amid fears that failing to do so could lead to Britain leaving the EU without a deal. The Government said that setting out its position demonstrated

‘Any sense that Britain is getting a special deal because of Brexit is anathema to many MEPS’

the UK’S “desire to ensure our exit from the EU is smooth, orderly and successful”.

However, a source close to the European Parliament’s Brexit team said Brussels was likely to fight Mr Davis’s plans. The source said: “Any request for a bespoke arrangement would be certain to throw up legal and political hurdles. A transition deal must preserve the integrity of the EU’S legal order.

“Any sense that Britain is getting a special deal because of Brexit is anathema to many MEPS. They believe, rightly or wrongly, Britain had a special deal before Brexit.

“It is hard to see them accepting, without a fight, a bespoke deal that gave Britain the ability to strike free trade deals while benefiting from the advantages of customs union membership.”

The Government is putting forward two options for customs arrangements after Brexit. One would see the UK manage a new customs border with a “streamlined” administration; the other would be a customs partnership with the EU that would mean there is no need for a customs border between the UK and the rest of the bloc.