UK seeks interim customs deal to avoid Brexit trade chaos
- 7 years ago
The British government is proposing an interim customs agreement with the European Union after Brexit to allow trade to continue as freely as possible once the UK leaves the EU.
The Brexit Minister David Davis says that under the plan, existing customs arrangements would broadly stay in place during an interim period.
The UK has said it will leave the EU’s Customs Union – its tariff-free trading area – and the Single Market when its membership of the bloc ends in March 2019.
In interviews on Tuesday, Davis would not be drawn on whether Britain would pay the EU for a temporary customs deal, saying he would not negotiate on air, although he did tell ITV “no, I don’t think so”.
Brussels’ position from the outset has been that the UK’s divorce settlement – the so-called exit bill, as well as citizens’ rights and the future of the Irish border – must be sorted before future trade arrangements can be negotiated.
Businesses have long called for clarity over the UK’s future relationship with the EU, and the main employers’ organisation the CBI said it was encouraged by the government’s proposal. The Institute of Directors said there would be a “great sigh of relief” among UK businesses.
The European Union has said it will study the proposals carefully but will only consider the question of an implementation period once sufficient progress has been made on Britain’s withdrawal.
The EU has always warned that Britain cannot “cherry-pick” the advantages of EU membership which involve accepting the union’s main principles. Under the rules of the Customs Union, members trade without customs impositions and charge the same tariffs on imports – and cannot negotiate their own trade deals outside the EU. One of the UK’s key Brexit objectives is to be free to pursue its own trade deals.
David Davis has set out two possible approaches under the UKs proposal: a “highly streamlined customs arrangement” including “innovative measures” to achieve minimal disruption to trade, or a second option of a new customs partnership which would be “entirely novel and therefore untested”.
Any transitional period would most likely last for two years, he has said, and must be over by the time of the UK’s next scheduled general election in 2022.
Theresa May’s government has promised to publish a series of policy documents on Brexit this week, ahead of the resumption of negotiations with Brussels later this month.
The Brexit Minister David Davis says that under the plan, existing customs arrangements would broadly stay in place during an interim period.
The UK has said it will leave the EU’s Customs Union – its tariff-free trading area – and the Single Market when its membership of the bloc ends in March 2019.
In interviews on Tuesday, Davis would not be drawn on whether Britain would pay the EU for a temporary customs deal, saying he would not negotiate on air, although he did tell ITV “no, I don’t think so”.
Brussels’ position from the outset has been that the UK’s divorce settlement – the so-called exit bill, as well as citizens’ rights and the future of the Irish border – must be sorted before future trade arrangements can be negotiated.
Businesses have long called for clarity over the UK’s future relationship with the EU, and the main employers’ organisation the CBI said it was encouraged by the government’s proposal. The Institute of Directors said there would be a “great sigh of relief” among UK businesses.
The European Union has said it will study the proposals carefully but will only consider the question of an implementation period once sufficient progress has been made on Britain’s withdrawal.
The EU has always warned that Britain cannot “cherry-pick” the advantages of EU membership which involve accepting the union’s main principles. Under the rules of the Customs Union, members trade without customs impositions and charge the same tariffs on imports – and cannot negotiate their own trade deals outside the EU. One of the UK’s key Brexit objectives is to be free to pursue its own trade deals.
David Davis has set out two possible approaches under the UKs proposal: a “highly streamlined customs arrangement” including “innovative measures” to achieve minimal disruption to trade, or a second option of a new customs partnership which would be “entirely novel and therefore untested”.
Any transitional period would most likely last for two years, he has said, and must be over by the time of the UK’s next scheduled general election in 2022.
Theresa May’s government has promised to publish a series of policy documents on Brexit this week, ahead of the resumption of negotiations with Brussels later this month.