The great faults of current EU trading are being lost in the minutiae of Brexit negotiations
SIR – There seems to be an obsession, on both sides of the Brexit argument, about bureaucratic minutiae. How about someone highlighting the major faults of the present system?
Many people do not realise that we pay too much for some basic imports because of the EU’S Common External Tariff. Average tariff rates charged on cereals like wheat and barley are at 19.5 per cent. Sugars and sweets are at 20 per cent. Clothing is at an average of 11.5 per cent.
These are everyday goods, prices for which hit poorer families particularly hard because they form an important part of their purchases. Surely Jeremy Corbyn would not wish to damage (possibly permanently) what must be a large part of his constituency?
On the other side of the tariff deal, the Common External Tariff punishes those countries outside the tariff wall, by making it difficult for them to trade with Britain and other countries in the EU, since the price of their products is raised as soon as they reach Europe.
And yet the best way we can help the development of countries outside the EU, some of them the poorest in the world, is by opening up to trade with them. This is better than all our overseas aid, which usually has no good effect on the productive capacity of the countries being targeted. Professor Arthur Morris
Helensburgh, Dunbartonshire
SIR – Jean-claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, should read the Uncle Remus tale about Br’er Rabbit and the Tar Baby. In it, Br’er Fox (Michel Barnier) has Br’er Rabbit (Theresa May) well and truly stuck to the Tar Baby (the Irish border) and however much he wriggles he can’t get free.
Br’er Fox is sitting there licking his lips and spelling out all the ways he can satisfyingly despatch the unfortunate Br’er Rabbit. To all of them Br’er Rabbit says: “Yes, yes, but whatever you do please don’t throw me in the briar patch” (World Trade Organisation rules). As we all know, in the story Br’er Fox decides that that is the worst possible punishment and with one bound Br’er Rabbit is free.
In real life, of course, things are not so simple, but if it doesn’t work Br’er Rabbit is going to end up being boiled alive in Br’er Fox’s stew pot. Jonathan Goodall
Bath, Somerset
SIR – In the Irish Referendum of 1998 on the Good Friday Agreement, more than 90 per cent of voters approved the change in the Republic’s constitution to drop articles that effectively claimed sovereignty over Northern Ireland. It seems that Leo Varadkar, the Prime Minister of Ireland, and others in the EU need to be reminded of this.
The Irish border question will only be solved by Ireland and the United Kingdom working together in a spirit of neighbourliness and goodwill, rather than relying on politicians and lawyers in Brussels to come up with absurd, highly provocative and totally unacceptable proposals. Gilbert Dunlop
Great Offley, Hertfordshire
SIR – Charles Moore (Comment, March 3) is right. Mr Barnier’s remarks about the Irish border display an appointed bureaucrat’s arrogance. He seems to understand little of our turbulent history there. Mrs May would be within her rights to demand the EU appoint a new chief negotiator. John Sadler
Berriew, Montgomeryshire
SIR – Charles Moore mentioned a paper by Lars Karlsson, Smart Border 2.0, published by a policy department of the EU Parliament. It concludes that a smart border can meet the demands of EU customs procedures, by combining international standards, best practices and new technology – and within the required timescales. Ernie Cochrane
Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire
SIR – During the 2010 financial crisis Britain helped Ireland conclude its negotiations successfully. Reciprocity? Tony Wagg
Rowlands Castle, Hampshire