Britain plots ‘biggest trade deal ever’ after Brexit breakthrough
BRITAIN took a huge stride towards signing the ‘ biggest, most effective and comprehensive’ trade deal in history after clinching a Brexit transition agreement yesterday.
David Davis said the provisional pact was a ‘decisive step’ in the talks which will allow the UK to sign deals across the world as soon as the divorce is completed.
The agreement on the 21-month period, which Theresa May promised in order to provide certainty to businesses, is a huge economic boost and led to a surge in the pound.
But the Prime Minister came under fire over several concessions made to seal the deal.
Brexiteers fumed at the Government’s climb- down on a promise to restrict the rights of EU citizens coming to the UK and the grudging acceptance of plans that could split Northern Ireland from Britain.
But Mrs May dismissed the criticism last night and said the agreement proved that both sides can solve ‘difficult issues together’. She urged the EU to push ahead and open trade talks despite admitting that questions over the Irish border were not ‘fully resolved’.
In Brussels, Mr Davis said: ‘We have taken a decisive step.’
Under yesterday’s agreement, the UK will remain tied to Brussels rules and – controversially – under the control of EU judges until December 31, 2020.
The Brexit Secretary said the pact provided a key pathway to beginning long-awaited talks on a future trade deal with the EU.
‘We need to get on with this now and come to agreements as fast as we can. This will be the biggest, most effective and comprehensive trade deal ever.’
In the agreement, Brussels handed the UK the ability to begin negotiating and signing off trade deals with other countries without permission from the bloc. ‘The UK will be able to step out, sign and ratify new trade deals with old friends – and new allies – around the globe for the first time in more than 40 years,’ Mr Davis said.
The trading freedom is seen by Brexiteers as a key plank of the UK’s move to becoming an independent nation, although the deals will not be implemented until after the transition ends.
The agreement to effectively keep Britain in the EU for two years after Brexit was described by EU negotiator Michel Barnier as ‘very useful’ for both sides.
Yesterday’s provisional deal is just one section of what will become the final Brexit ‘withdrawal agreement’, which was outlined yesterday in a 53,500word document. After marathon talks over the weekend, negotiators said 75 per cent of the text had been settled, including the controversial ‘divorce bill’.
Yesterday’s draft text also outlined how Gibraltar will be covered under the agreement. It will leave the bloc at the same time as the UK, despite warnings from Spain.
EU migrants arriving in Britain until just before the transition period ends in 2020 will retain the right to stay indefinitely, despite contrary promises by Mrs May. This means freedom of movement will continue to apply for 21 months after Brexit, with citizens able to call in wide-ranging rights for themselves and their families.
Ukip MEP Nigel Farage said: ‘After vaunting her so-called red lines, she quickly rubs them out under EU pressure.’
There were also growing concerns among prominent Leavers about the Government’s decision to support a controversial ‘backstop’ that could split Northern Ireland from the UK.
When the plans, which would keep Northern Ireland in the customs union and parts of the single market, were revealed, Mrs May said they were ‘utterly unacceptable’. But under pressure from Dublin and Paris, Britain has agreed to keep the option open, despite insisting the EU’s wording would have to be scrapped.
The draft deal will be scrutinised by EU ministers today before it is expected to be signed off by EU leaders on Friday.
‘New trade deals with old friends’
BRITAIN took a huge step yesterday. For all the scaremongering and cynicism of Remainers, we set a course for a smooth and amicable departure from the EU.
The deal over the Brexit implementation period also lights the way to our future trading relationship with Europe as a sovereign nation.
Of course, there will be many obstacles on the road ahead. But the atmosphere of the negotiations has palpably changed.
Where there had previously been only negativity and threats from Brussels, there now seems to be a recognition that both sides stand to suffer if a sensible agreement isn’t reached. How devastating this new air of cooperation must be to the Remain camp, who are so desperate for Brexit to fail.
Inevitably, there were concessions. Fishermen reacted angrily to the fact that the UK will continue to observe Common Fisheries Policy rules through the transition. Understandably, they fear a bigger sell-out further down the line.
We have also agreed that free movement will effectively continue until the end of 2020, with EU citizens having full residency rights. And the issue of the Irish border (which the Mail has always believed to be a manufactured row) remains unresolved.
But there are major gains. The transition period will be cut short by three months, we will not be bound by EU defence or foreign policy and – most important of all – we will be able to negotiate and sign independent trade deals as soon as we formally leave the EU next March.
So business has some reassurance there will be no ‘cliff- edge’. The firmly proRemain Confederation of British Industry said the deal was ‘a critical milestone’ and ‘a victory for common sense’.
But why the change of tone from the EU negotiators? Could it be that big corporations in member states have had enough of their intransigence?
The finance chief of German luxury carmaker Porsche spoke for many European business leaders on Friday, when he warned their bullying risked a trade war which could cost countless jobs across the EU.
The truth is, we buy £60billion more from Europe each year than we sell to it. So a chaotic Brexit with the erection of trade tariffs would hurt the EU far more than us.
Could it be that even in Brussels the penny has finally dropped?