DAVID Davis has reiterated a plea to the European Union to begin negotiations on a future trade deal with the UK before exit terms talks with the bloc have been completed. The Brexit Secretary will publish five position papers this week further setting out Britain’s negotiating strategy ahead of a new round of talks between starting at the end of the month.
A key document is expected on the UK Government’s favoured approaches to enforcing rights outside the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
Disagreement over the ECJ’s role was a major sticking point during last month’s talks, with the UK disputing Brussels’ view that EU citizens’ rights should be enforced by the court after Brexit.
EU leaders say they would use the ECJ to protect the rights of British nationals living in Europe post-Brexit, and that the same protection should be given to EU citizens living in the UK.
The paper will set out different possible approaches to end the “direct jurisdiction” of the ECJ and set out alternative ways of enforcing the rights of individuals and businesses after Brexit.
But first, a document on goods will emphasise that the Government is seeking a deal to ensure the freest and most friction-less trade possible in goods and services.
The EU’s position is that a possible trade deal should be discussed after sufficient progress has been made on the process of UK withdrawal, including the Irish border, EU citizens’ rights and the UK’s outstanding financial obligations to the EU.
This so-called divorce bill is the amount of money the UK will have to pay Brussels for budget commitments made or plans it signed up to. Estimates have put the sum at around £60 billion.
Britain believes the goods and services sectors are impossible to separate from the withdrawal talks and so wants to discuss them together. “With the clock ticking, it wouldn’t be in either of our interests to run aspects of the negotiations twice,” Davis said. “This week we set out more detail ... putting forward imaginative and creative solutions to build a deep and special partnership with our closest neighbours and allies.”
A position paper on confidentiality will make clear the Government’s intentions on ensuring official documents and information exchanged between the UK, EU and other member states remain protected after Brexit.
A document will be published on civil judicial co-operation and a paper on data will seek to ensure it continues to be passed between the UK and EU without disruption.
Davis said some early discussion of the future trading relationship would help progress on the question of the Irish border.
“It is simply not possible to reach a near-final agreement on the border issue until we’ve begun to talk about how our broader future customs arrangement will work,” he said. “Furthermore, if we get the comprehensive free trade agreement we’re seeking as part of our future partnership, solutions in Northern Ireland are easier to deliver.”
Meanwhile, Sir Paul Jenkins, the Government’s most senior legal official for eight years until 2014, said Britain would have to replicate EU rules and submit to the ECJ “in all but name” if it wants to remove the need for hard borders.
Last week, the Government published a paper setting out its wish for close customs arrangements with the EU and no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
Jenkins said: “If the UK is to be part of something close enough to a customs union or the single market to remove the need for hard borders, it will only work if the rules are identical to the EU’s own internal rules.
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