Barnier's speech last week (HERE) contained an interesting section on cherry picking or, as he put things, the UK still having the possibility to "participate in parts of the single market". I have heard any number of senior ministers and former ministers say that we might decide to retain membership of this or that EU body, as if we had a choice. Or that the UK banking industry for example would continue with privileged access to the EU. Barnier questioned all of that.
This is the section from his speech:
"There are two contradicting sound bites from ardent advocates of Brexit: The UK will finally "set itself free" from EU regulations and bureaucracy, some claim. Others claim that – after Brexit – it will still be possible to participate in parts of the Single Market. Simply because we have been together for more than four decades, with the same rules, and we can continue to trust each other.
"None of these views seems to offer a sound basis for going forward.
"The same people who argue for setting the UK free also argue that the UK should remain in some EU agencies. But freedom implies responsibility for building new UK administrative capacity".
Building new UK administrative capacity, those are his words. You can see some of the "agencies" and the organisations that we will need to recreate HERE. There is a phenomenal amount of work needed to do this, from the legislation to create them to buying or leasing buildings, to recruiting and training staff as well as preparing our own standards and getting them approved where necessary with international bodies. It beggars belief that this can be done in fifteen months or so.
Does this mean the penny is closer to dropping? Probably not.
