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Updated
July 10, 2018 12:15:42
Two years after the referendum, the British government seemed to briefly agree on its vision of the future UK-EU relationship – a three-page document, outlining the position of the United Kingdom, was issued following a lengthy meeting of ministers at the Prime Minister's Chiefs Retreat on 6 July.
The new position aims to solve the problem of the Irish border and potentially offers a more flexible version of Brexit. It caused the resignation of three ministers. Brexit Secretary David Davis and his number two at the EU's exit department, Steve Baker, resigned only 50 hours after the publication of the three-page document. This was followed by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson. Such dramatic developments raise serious questions about Britain's Brexit strategy and the future of the government itself
while what was agreed at Checkers and why was it led to these resignations? Mr Davis resigned because he felt that the new plan was giving up too much control to the EU. Nevertheless, the new plan should be seen as the starting point for negotiations on future relations between the United Kingdom and the European Union. In this sense, we should expect the UK's position to evolve in the coming months.
Previous Proposals
The government's new position has evolved considerably since its previous proposals for the UK's future economic relations with the EU. It was dubbed a "third way" between the two proposals the government issued in August 2017.
The first was a highly streamlined customs arrangement known as "max-fac" (shortcut for maximum facilitation) . It aimed to simplify the UK's customs arrangements with the EU using a variety of computer solutions to avoid a customs border between Northern Ireland and the Republic. Jon Thompson, director of HM Revenue and Customs, estimated that the cost of building the necessary infrastructure for this option would be about 20 billion pounds
According to the second model, a new customs partnership , the UK would reflect EU requirements. imports from the rest of the world "as if the United Kingdom was still part of the EU customs union.United Kingdom, according to this model, would still be free to pursue its independent trade policy
This could potentially lead to differences in its tariffs with those of the EU In response to this problem, an unprecedented and untested refund mechanism was proposed. United would pay the highest rate among the UK or EU tariffs and traders would claim "a refund of the difference between the two when the goods were sold to an end user in the country.
Aside from the cost and feasibility, the biggest problem of the two previous proposals was that none of them effectively dealt with the enigma of the Irish border. Neither could badure an invisible and frictionless border, since the UK intends to leave the single market and the customs union after Brexit.
As the British government had previously admitted, compliance with Irish border commitments alignment. Without the same regulatory standards on both sides of the border, controls would be needed on the different products that would be crossed to ensure the integrity of the single market.
That is why the new plan proposes to establish free trade. area for goods between the UK and the EU where "a uniform settlement for all products including agri-food" will exist. The United Kingdom will undertake, by international agreement, "to continue harmonization with the EU rules on goods". This echoes the mechanism of the European Economic Area whose members must adopt the new or reformed regulations that the EU institutions produce.
At the same time, the government argues that parliament can protect the United Kingdom. the legal order of future EU legislation in an arrangement that in a way resembles the EU 's relationship with Switzerland. Given the current crisis in relations between the EU and Switzerland on the issue of free movement of persons, the UK Government is right in recognizing that such action could lead to unforeseen consequences. At the same time, it calls into question the real power of the UK Parliament to disregard EU rules on goods.
The starting point of the negotiations
The last proposal, which came out of Checkers, is not definitive. final state of the future UK-EU relationship, as some have suggested
picture:
There is talk of a plot to overthrow Theresa May the Prime Minister. (Reuters: Yves Herman)
But even if the resignations of the UK's chief negotiator and the foreign minister do not lead to a political crisis, the Checkers agreement should be understood as the starting position of the UK in its negotiations with the EU.
Checkers' proposal is not comfortable with the models of EU-UK relations that the EU has already suggested. This is not a Canadian-style free trade agreement with the Northern Ireland guarantee option. Nor is it an economic relationship that allows the application of the four fundamental liberties of movement, as does the option "Norway"
Yet, it is the first position overall that the United Kingdom has presented. The United Kingdom therefore hopes that the EU will consider it.
Even if the EU does not reject the British position, the government should be waiting for issues such as its contribution to the new EU budget and the role of the European Court. of justice are raised and seriously considered in the months to come. It is only the beginning of the process which, hopefully, will lead to an orderly Brexit and a mutually beneficial future for the EU.
Nikos Skoutaris is Professor of European Law at the Faculty of Law of the University of East. Anglia.
This article was posted for the first time on The Conversation.
Topics:
world politics,
politics and government,
Government and politics,
International aid-and-trade,
Trade,
UK,
European Union
Published
July 10, 2018 11:59:18
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