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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| Barnier: new trade barriers 'unavoidable' if UK leaves single market | Barnier: new trade barriers 'unavoidable' if UK leaves single market |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| EU’s chief negotiator says UK must decide whether new barriers are price worth paying for greater separation from EU | EU’s chief negotiator says UK must decide whether new barriers are price worth paying for greater separation from EU |
| Peter Walker Political correspondent | Peter Walker Political correspondent |
| Mon 5 Feb 2018 18.04 GMT | Mon 5 Feb 2018 18.04 GMT |
| Last modified on Mon 5 Feb 2018 19.05 GMT | |
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| Britain will inevitably face fresh trade barriers if it leaves the single market and customs union, the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, has said following talks with Theresa May and the Brexit secretary, David Davis. | |
| After the discussions at Downing Street, Barnier also said the “time has come to make a choice” whether new trade barriers were a price worth paying for greater separation from the EU. | After the discussions at Downing Street, Barnier also said the “time has come to make a choice” whether new trade barriers were a price worth paying for greater separation from the EU. |
| In response, both Davis and Downing Street said the aim remained to keep trade “as frictionless as possible”, but declined to give details as to how this might be achieved. | In response, both Davis and Downing Street said the aim remained to keep trade “as frictionless as possible”, but declined to give details as to how this might be achieved. |
| A cabinet subcommittee is due to meet on Wednesday and Thursday to decide the details of policy regarding a customs union. | A cabinet subcommittee is due to meet on Wednesday and Thursday to decide the details of policy regarding a customs union. |
| The meeting, which saw May join the talks for about 20 minutes before Barnier and Davis continued alone, followed the announcement by Downing Street that the UK would not be involved in either the current customs union or a new union to replace it. | The meeting, which saw May join the talks for about 20 minutes before Barnier and Davis continued alone, followed the announcement by Downing Street that the UK would not be involved in either the current customs union or a new union to replace it. |
| In brief televised comments after the talks, Davis described them as “very constructive”, saying the priority was to reach an agreement over the transition period after departure. | In brief televised comments after the talks, Davis described them as “very constructive”, saying the priority was to reach an agreement over the transition period after departure. |
| “Our negotiating team are starting straight away – tomorrow certainly – on an intensive period of negotiation, and we are confident that we can get that political agreement at the March economic council,” he said. | “Our negotiating team are starting straight away – tomorrow certainly – on an intensive period of negotiation, and we are confident that we can get that political agreement at the March economic council,” he said. |
| Responding, Barnier reiterated the EU’s stance that during the transition period the UK would need to abide by existing regulation, saying: “The conditions are clear, very clear – everyone has to play by the same rules during this transition.” | Responding, Barnier reiterated the EU’s stance that during the transition period the UK would need to abide by existing regulation, saying: “The conditions are clear, very clear – everyone has to play by the same rules during this transition.” |
| On the longer-term talks about a final relationship, Barnier said there was a need for “clarity about the UK proposals for the future partnership”. | On the longer-term talks about a final relationship, Barnier said there was a need for “clarity about the UK proposals for the future partnership”. |
| He said: “The only thing I can say, without the customs union, outside the single market, barriers to trade and goods and services are unavoidable. The time has come to make a choice.” | He said: “The only thing I can say, without the customs union, outside the single market, barriers to trade and goods and services are unavoidable. The time has come to make a choice.” |
| Asked whether Downing Street accepted Barnier’s view that leaving the customs union would necessarily mean new barriers, May’s spokesman said: “We have said that we want the customs arrangement to be as frictionless as possible, and that’s what we will be looking to achieve as part of the deep and special partnership we’re seeking with the European Union.” | Asked whether Downing Street accepted Barnier’s view that leaving the customs union would necessarily mean new barriers, May’s spokesman said: “We have said that we want the customs arrangement to be as frictionless as possible, and that’s what we will be looking to achieve as part of the deep and special partnership we’re seeking with the European Union.” |
| Pressed on the point he added: “We’re at the start of a negotiation, and we’ve said that what we want to achieve is access which is frictionless and which is tariff-free, and that’s still our position.” | Pressed on the point he added: “We’re at the start of a negotiation, and we’ve said that what we want to achieve is access which is frictionless and which is tariff-free, and that’s still our position.” |
| The announcement on the customs union came via a Downing Street source on Sunday, who said: “It is not our policy to be in the customs union. It is not our policy to be in a customs union.” The statement went further than May, who, on Friday, refused to rule out involvement in a customs union when questioned during her visit to China. | The announcement on the customs union came via a Downing Street source on Sunday, who said: “It is not our policy to be in the customs union. It is not our policy to be in a customs union.” The statement went further than May, who, on Friday, refused to rule out involvement in a customs union when questioned during her visit to China. |
| In response Hilary Benn, the Labour MP who chairs the Commons Brexit committee, said the decision was “a profound mistake” that could both harm the economy and risk conflict in Northern Ireland. | In response Hilary Benn, the Labour MP who chairs the Commons Brexit committee, said the decision was “a profound mistake” that could both harm the economy and risk conflict in Northern Ireland. |
| “I wish [Downing Street’s statement] was clarity but I don’t think it is,” Benn told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “I think the government is in a state of open disagreement. The prime minister has been immobilised. We’re 19 months since the referendum … and we still don’t know what it is we want.” | “I wish [Downing Street’s statement] was clarity but I don’t think it is,” Benn told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “I think the government is in a state of open disagreement. The prime minister has been immobilised. We’re 19 months since the referendum … and we still don’t know what it is we want.” |
| Benn said it was “a very serious moment for our country”. He added: “I think it’s a profound mistake to leave a customs union with the European Union.” | Benn said it was “a very serious moment for our country”. He added: “I think it’s a profound mistake to leave a customs union with the European Union.” |
| Doing so would necessarily involve a return to some sort of checks on the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, which could jeopardise the peace process, he said. | Doing so would necessarily involve a return to some sort of checks on the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, which could jeopardise the peace process, he said. |
| Brexit | Brexit |
| Michel Barnier | Michel Barnier |
| Theresa May | Theresa May |
| European Union | European Union |
| Foreign policy | Foreign policy |
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