Hilary Benn's Exiting the EU Select Committee issued their 10th report yesterday with findings on the Withdrawal Agreement and the Political Declaration (HERE). It is highly critical of the government as the BBC (HERE) makes clear. They quote Hilary Benn saying it's a huge step into the unknown but those words are not actually in the report so I assume it's from an interview.
I'm not sure it is even worth reading the whole report since the deal on which they comment is not going to be accepted by parliament, not in its present form anyway. But just a couple of things they focus on are interesting for what they say about the process.
First of all the backstop. They are sceptical that any solution can be found to replace the backstop anytime soon. This will simply fuel the Brexiteers' concerns that we will be stuck in a customs union for years:
In December 2017, we said that we did not see how it would be possible to reconcile maintaining an open border on the island of Ireland with leaving the Single Market and Customs Union, which would inevitably make the Northern Irish border the UK’s customs and regulatory border with the European Union. Since then, we have seen no realistic, long-term proposals from the Government that would address this. (Paragraph 36)
We keep hearing from Owen Paterson and Boris Johnson that the backstop is a confected problem but nobody has yet provided the answer.
And on the political declaration the committee think this is far too woolly and a 'leap into the unknown'. This is probably a result of the UK government wanting to have it both ways and give the impression that we will not be too closely aligned while trade will be far more frictionless than it will actually be. It is just a bit more can-kicking to avoid meeting up with reality.
The committee picked up on what the political declaration did NOT say - and this is what the government's final intended objective actually is for the future trading relationship. They contrast this with what Mrs May herself said back in January 2017 when she said a trade agreement would be reached and be ready to start a 'phased process of implementation' by March 2019. Well that didn't happen did it?
The committee's report says:
The committee's report says:
The
sections on the economy do not set out a single, end state for
negotiators to work towards. Instead, there is a “spectrum” of choices
which could lead to a looser CETA-style free trade agreement between the
EU and the UK or to a relationship that is based on following EU rules
and a close customs arrangement. These options are very different and
would involve trade-offs with profound consequences for many businesses
based in the UK and for the wider UK economy.
This is contrary to the Prime Minister’s statement in her Lancaster House speech in January 2017,
in which she said:
in which she said:
I want us to have reached an agreement about our future partnership by the time the 2-year Article 50 process has concluded. From that point onwards, we believe a phased process of implementation, in which both Britain and the EU institutions and Member States prepare for the new arrangements that will exist between us will be in our mutual self-interest.
"We were told throughout our scrutiny of the negotiations by successive Secretaries of State for Exiting the European Union, and by Michel Barnier and other interlocutors from the European Union, that the Political Declaration would be detailed and substantive. We deeply regret that it is neither. The document only sets out a series of options for the UK’s trade with the European Union, its closest and largest trading partner, and establishes a framework for ongoing conversations across a range of areas. We note that the Political Declaration expresses a high level of ambition about the nature and scope of the future relationship, but ambition is no guarantee of success, nor is it clear how it would deliver at least the same outcomes as we have under our current relationship with the EU
However, outside the Single Market and Customs Union there cannot be frictionless trade. This will mean additional costs and bureaucracy for many UK businesses, however ambitious any future arrangement outside the Single Market and Customs Union may be. The Government needs to be frank and open about how far it is willing to align with EU rules, at the expense of UK regulatory autonomy, if its main priority is to secure EU-UK trade that is as frictionless as possible. This is not a choice the Government has so far been willing to make. The Political Declaration makes clear, that because of the number of issues crucial to the future of the EU-UK relationship which are still to be decided, the Brexit process will not be concluded by March 2019. Indeed, negotiations on the future relationship are likely to go on for a number of years. (Paragraph 80)
Calling for the government to be frank and open will ring a bit hollow since this is something they have been unable to do since well before the referendum.
