Getting down to the nitty gritty: three-page summary outlines the framework for Brussels to pore over
THERESA MAY’S Cabinet released a three-page summary of their proposed Brexit deal with the European Union after the 12-hour Chequers meeting.
The statement, signed “HM Government”, sets out the terms upon which the UK seeks to leave the EU.
Free trade area
Britain will seek to establish with the EU a more “developed and comprehensive proposal for the economic partnership” with at its core “a free trade area for goods”.
It says: “This would avoid friction at the border, protect jobs and livelihoods, and ensure both sides meet their commitments to Northern Ireland and Ireland through the overall future relationship: preserving the constitutional and economic integrity of the UK”.
Trade in goods
Britain will have shared rules on goods, “with the UK making an upfront choice to commit by treaty to ongoing harmonisation with EU rules on goods, covering only those necessary for frictionless trade at the border”.
Once out of the EU, the UK will “continue to play a role in shaping the international standards that underpin them, and Parliament would oversee the incorporation of these rules into the UK’S legal order – with the ability to choose not to do so, recognising that this would have consequences”. But the UK and EU will diverge on services “where it is in our interests to have regulatory flexibility”. Britain will continue to have a seat at the WTO, setting tariffs for trade with the rest of the world, and seek accession to the Trans-pacific Partnership to trade with the US and Asia.
Courts
Britain and the EU will agree their own courts can settle disputes in their jurisdictions. But the agreement says: “This would be done in the UK by UK courts, and in the EU by EU courts – with due regard paid to EU case law.”
This will worry Eurosceptics as it appears to suggest British courts will be subservient to EU courts.
Border checks
A Facilitated Customs Arrangement will be set up to “remove the need for customs checks and controls between the UK and the EU”, it says. Under this, Britain effectively becomes a collector of tariffs on goods for the EU.
It says: “The UK would apply the UK’S tariffs and trade policy for goods intended for the UK, and the EU’S tariffs and trade policy for goods intended for the EU. This would enable the UK to control its own tariffs for trade with the rest of the world and ensure businesses paid the right or no tariff.”
‘It is in the best interests of both sides to reach agreement on a good sustainable future relationship’
Immigration
Free movement will end after Brexit “giving the UK back control over how many people enter the country”. But Eurosceptics will sound the alarm about a new “mobility framework” which appears to allow freedom of movement of labour between the UK and the EU.
No deal
Plans for leaving the EU without an agreement will be “stepped up”, recognising this is a “possibility”.
It says: “It remains our firm view that it is in the best interests of both sides to reach agreement on a good and sustainable future relationship.
“But we also concluded that it was responsible to continue preparations for a range of potential outcomes, including the possibility of “no deal”.