Call for 'constructive' EU response to UK Brexit proposals

Greg Clark said recent talks he has held with ministerial counterparts across Europe have highlighted the imperative of an agreement being reached between the UK and EU27 on the terms of the UK's withdrawal from the trading bloc.

The UK is scheduled to exit the EU on 29 March 2019. To-date, no Brexit agreement has been reached between negotiators for the UK and EU27.

Last month, the UK government published a Brexit white paper which set out its vision for the future relationship between the UK and EU.

The white paper addressed a wide range of issues, including on how closely UK rules on goods and services will be aligned with the EU's post-Brexit, how the government believes customs arrangements could work, and how UK regulators in areas such as medicines and aviation could continue working with EU agencies. It also contained proposals around the regard that UK courts should have to rulings of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) and on how disputes between the UK and EU should be resolved.

The proposals spurred political discord within the governing Conservative party in the UK, and received criticism from opposition parties too. The initial response to the proposals from the EU27 was positive, but subsequently the EU27's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, rejected the UK government's customs proposals. A full and formal response to the UK's plans is still awaited.

Since the white paper was published, Clark has met ministerial counterparts in five EU countries, most recently this week in Austria and Finland. He visited France, Portugal and Italy in July.

In a statement issued at the end of his visits to Austria and Finland, Clark said: "I am confident the UK and the EU now have the foundations and opportunity to come to a pragmatic and mutually beneficial deal. My discussions across Europe have demonstrated how clearly it is in everyone’s interest that an agreement is reached quickly and ‘no deal’ is avoided."

"The [European] Commission has a responsibility to all the people of Europe to respond positively and constructively, if not, the disruption and impact on our continent’s businesses, economies, and millions of hard working families across the UK and EU will be significant and lasting," he said.

Brexit expert Guy Lougher of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said there are still significant hurdles to overcome before a Brexit agreement can be reached. This includes an acceptable resolution on the Irish backstop issue, which he said "continues to be a major point of difference between the two sides". 

Lougher said that the EU has "several lines of concern" in relation to the proposals set out in the UK's Brexit white paper, and highlighted two examples.

"One concern is whether the scheme for the UK collecting customs duties on the EU’s behalf is practicable, and what institutional arrangements need to be put in place to ensure the scheme works to the EU’s satisfaction," Lougher said. "In this context, the continuing role of the CJEU post-Brexit is an important piece of the jigsaw."

"It also has concern that the UK’s proposal represents an unacceptable degree of 'cherrypicking', given its desire to ensure that the UK post-Brexit has a demonstrably worse deal than full EU membership," he said.