Britain will have to cave into EU demands for greater access to fishing and freedom of movement in return for closer trade ties, Daily Mail reports.
During a visit to Brussels, Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves was told that increased access to UK waters for EU trawlers and a youth mobility scheme would be “on the table” in future negotiations.
It came ahead of a summit with EU finance ministers, making Ms. Reeves the first British chancellor to attend such a meeting since the UK left the bloc almost five years ago.
Her presence was meant to be a statement of intent: the Chancellor joined the group of Cabinet ministers who have been pushing hardest for a “reset” of relations with the bloc.
She told them that “breaking down trade barriers” would be a key objective of future negotiations to boost economic growth on both sides of the Channel.
Speaking to them, she added:
“In the long-run, Brexit is expected to cause UK trade intensity to fall by 15 per cent. And with goods exports between both the UK and EU continuing to remain below 2018 levels, this is impacting UK and EU economies alike. And so, the reset in relations is about doing what is in the best interests of our shared economies.”
However, ahead of the summit, Spain’s economy and trade minister Carlos Cuerpo Caballero warned that there would be a price to pay for greater market access.
Asked whether increased access to UK fishing waters would be a “red line,” he said:
“There is an element of common understanding that there’s a win-win situation of going further in this relationship between both parties. And we need to engage…on what would be the next steps towards getting back as much as possible to where we were [before Brexit] in terms of those financial economics and trade ties. It’s of course agriculture, it’s of course fisheries, it’s of course migration as well. There are many elements on the table that we will need to discuss.”
Asked whether the youth mobility scheme was also a red line, he added:
“Well, that’s an important element from the EU side we want to put on the table. And that’s one of the areas where I think there is greater value added, also for the UK, to engage constructively.”
UK ministers fear that the youth mobility scheme, which would allow young people from EU countries to live and work in the UK for a certain period, would be seen by Labour as a return of a form of free movement.
And Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has warned it would lead to a rise in net migration at a time when it is already at near-record levels. But Ms. Reeves appeared to leave the door open to a pact, telling a press conference after the summit that ministers ruled out a return to “free movement of labour.” This suggests the government is open to a return to other forms of free movement.
Labour’s election manifesto was not so unequivocal, it simply ruled out a return to “freedom of movement.” Ms. Reeves reiterated the government’s position that Britain would not join the EU’s single market or customs union. But she refused to outline her “red lines” for closer trade ties, insisting yesterday’s meeting was “not about starting negotiations” or “making a series of demands.”
It was about “preliminary work to rebuild trust and relations” and “drawing a line” under the “divisiveness and antagonism” of Brexit, she told a press conference after the summit.
More detailed negotiations will begin next year, she added.
Privately, EU diplomats have complained that British ministers have been evasive in telling them exactly what they are seeking. And there is frustration in Brussels at the UK’s failure to so far embrace proposals for a youth mobility scheme.
Labour’s manifesto promised a new veterinary agreement to reduce barriers to food trade, as well as pushing for mutual recognition of professional qualifications. But Brexiteers fear it will entail bringing the UK into line with EU rules and recognising the role of the European Court of Justice in resolving disputes.
Alex Burghart MP, shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster for the Tory party, said:
“It looks like Labour’s plan is to follow EU rules for nothing in return. If the Chancellor wants to improve growth and trade, she should learn the lesson that clobbering businesses with high taxes and unleashing borrowing sprees will make our country less attractive, not more.”
