#customs union

All Our Yesterdays: Day 169

08.01.20. Wake Smith News 

“...Boris Johnson has remained steadfast that the UK will leave the EU customs union, exit the single market and terminate the overall legal power of the European Court of Justice in UK matters.”

 Of course, when he said this he wasn’t including Northern Ireland as part of the UK. Geography was never my strong point, but even I, without my Eton education, know that Northern Ireland is (or was?) part of the United Kingdom. The clue Mr Johnson is in the name – United Kingdom.

Johnson was later accused of 'misleading the public’ about his own Brexit deal, when it emerged he had told exporters in Northern Ireland they would not need to fill in extra paperwork.

01.01.21. ITV News

“Brexit: Lorries turned back on first day of new paperwork patrols at UK ports.”

Please think back to March this year.  Prime Minister Theresa May had lost control of Parliament, which held a series of “indicative votes”.  Veteren MP Kenneth Clarke suggested a genuine compromise of continuing membership of the Customs Union.  It lost by only three votes.

Labour’s approach to Brexit has been confused and variable.  It is no surprise that their current general election campaign is trying to avoid this issue almost as much as anti-semitism.  However, they have often appeared to want to seek agreement of membership of a customs union, which would be an improved version of the Customs Union.  Labour used to say that they accepted the June 2016 referendum Leave vote, but there can be little doubt now that this is not true.

From their own strategic viewpoint, Labour should have supported Kenneth Clarke’s suggestion with him as caretaker prime minister instead of Jeremy Corbyn.  However, Labour put short term party advantage before country and failed to show leadership.  After securing what would be an easy agreement with the EU (Monaco already has it), Kenneth Clarke could have called a general election which Labour could well have won.

Although I would like to just leave the EU with a free trade arrangement, the Customs Union does have some advantages.  Fewer changes need to be made regarding trade.  It is a genuine compromise.  The UK could leave it in the future if we wished.  We would not be subject to free movement of EU nationals and our regular EU membership contributions would cease.  However, above all, the Customs Union does not split the UK with a horrendous trade border down the Irish Sea as Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s deal does.

When the UK leaves the European Union (EU), it will no longer have access to EU Structural Funds. These are the main source of regional aid from the EU to the UK. There is a commitment to maintain funding until 2020 and it will provide some short-term relief for agencies counting on continuation of these monies. However, what are the options for UK regional aid policy beyond 2020 and assuming that Brexit involves leaving the single market and the customs union?

What are the options for UK regional aid policy post-Brexit?

This blog has been critical of the Conservative Government’s approach.  As one of the majority who supported Leave, this is what I would do.

1) Continue talking about the rights of UK citizens in the EU27 and EU27 citizens in the UK.

2) Give the EU27 the clarity they want about our contributions after March 2019.  There aren’t going to be any!  [We will, of course, contribute to costs and expenses of the many projects where we continue to co-operate.]

3) Continue talking about the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

4) Propose a two year transitional arrangement from March 2019 to March 2021 whereby the UK remains in the Customs Union (not the Single Market).  This gives Liam Fox and his team another two years to finalise world wide trade agreements, which would come into force from March 2021.  [But, I hear you say, the EU27 won’t talk about transitional arrangements because of 2) above.  It could be discussed as part of the Irish border issue, which would give them a face saving formula.]

5) Continue to participate enthusiastically in organisations like Europol and the ESA.

6) Understand that Brexit belongs to the nation as a whole and not to any political party, whether that be the Conservatives, UKIP, DUP or Labour.  For example, there is no need to turn more parliamentary oversight of routine changes to legislation transferred from the EU into a party political issue.

7) Prepare for No Deal.  It’s not our first choice, but we can’t force the EU to discuss trade.

LONDON — Keir Starmer is optimistic about Brexit after all. The U.K. Labour leader — who once campaigned harder than many in his party to try to reverse the result of 2016’s Brexit referendum — on Wednesday accused the Conservatives of failing to make the most of Britain’s newfound freedoms. And he doubled down on his view that the U.K.’s future “is outside the EU.” In an opinion piece for the…