February 2017
The morning after its thumping majority for triggering the EU departure process, the Government published its White Paper on Brexit, setting out its ambitions for Britain’s exit deal. The plan fleshed out the 12 objectives Theresa May set out in her Brexit speech last month. The major new surprise came in David Davis telling MPs that the UK would not automatically leave the European Economic Area (the free trading area with countries such as Norway) as it leaves the Single Market. This gives some short-term certainty to businesses that in the absence of a transitional deal, the free movement of goods would continue in as seamless a way as possible.
WHAT DID WE LEARN THAT IS NEW? Norway option not off the table short-term While the UK will leave the Single Market, David Davis said that did not necessarily mean that at the same moment we would automatically leave the European Economic Area. This is the common internal trading area including countries such as Norway. Davis confirmed that if the UK were to leave the EEA, he would return to Parliament to set this out. This is hugely significant for businesses seeking certainty over trading arrangements. The EEA allows participation in the EU’s internal market to those who are not EU members. In practice this removes barriers and tariffs on goods, so would give some guarantees of continuity on terms of trade. However, the EEA agreement does not cover services, so for sectors such as financial services this would provide no guarantees.
which the UK will no longer belong), there will need to be numerous changes in secondary legislation to reflect this. When it comes to changing the policy issues, this will need primary legislation and will be a much larger job. Guarantees for EU citizens in UK While the UK will be “taking back control of immigration”, the fate of the existing 3.3 EU citizens in the UK was been a bone of contention in recent weeks. There has been a growing rebellion among Conservative MPs said to be “very, very unhappy” that these EU migrants were being treated as pawns in the negotiations, with no guarantees over whether they could stay in the UK. David Davis was at pains to stress that he wanted EU citizens living in the UK today to continue to enjoy the rights they currently have, as well as protecting the continuing “moral and legal” rights of UK citizens abroad. At least six Conservative MPs are said to be planning to vote for opposition amendments offering guarantees to EU migrants in the UK.
New approach to negotiations – UK’s strength is its depth David Davis tested a new line on the UK’s negotiating hand. He stressed the importance of our 40-year membership of the EU and our deep integration in current arrangements. This, he said, gave us an unprecedented strength in that we have “the exact same rules, regulations and standards as the rest of the EU.” Therefore, talks will not be about “bringing together two divergent systems but about managing the continued cooperation of the UK and the EU. The focus will not be about removing existing barriers or questioning certain protections but about ensuring new barriers do not arise.”
No hard border with Ireland David was adamant that “we’re not going to have hard borders with Ireland” in terms of people. When it comes to the goods border, he said the Government was working on options to find the “softest, most invisible and frictionless border as possible.”
Davis was also keen to play good cop with the rest of the EU. He repeatedly said it was in the UK’s interest for the EU to survive economically and politically and that the spirit of negotiations would be warm.
Great Repeal Bill The process of adopting all EU law in order to then amend it piece-by-piece, will be a complex one. Given existing EU laws refer to EU institutions and bodies (to
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Lucy was the Deputy Director of Britain Stronger In Europe, the campaign to remain in the EU
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