Delay to Brexit talks means Britain must accept staying in Single Market, says Remainer MP
BRITAIN should accept remaining in the Single Market because a fresh delay to the Brexit talks means there will not be enough time to secure a bespoke trade deal, a Remainer MP has claimed.
Next phase of Brexit trade talks 'likely delayed' until December
Labour’s Peter Kyle said too much time out of the two-year Article 50 period had been “wasted” already after it emerged the next round of negotiations has been put back to December.
British officials say the postponement is to give Angela Merkel a window in which to form her new coalition Government, but there are suspicions the UK is also using the German election as an excuse to buy more time.
The EU has currently published nine position papers, and is set to release a slew more in the coming weeks, whilst Britain has managed just two - on citizens’ rights and Northern Ireland.
However, another theory is that British negotiators are deliberately stalling on the substantial issues, including the Brexit bill, in anticipation of the UK-friendly FDP entering Mrs Merkel’s new coalition next month.
Brexit talks had been due to resume on August 28, but this scheduled week will now be turned into more of a “fact-finding session” than actual negotiations according to EU officials.
Instead, it is believed that both sides will not get to the “meat” of the main issues until at least December, two months after they had hoped to secure “sufficient progress” on phase one.
That means the opening of talks on both a transitional agreement and a new trade deal between the UK and EU will not occur until at least the new year, leaving under a year to complete the process.
Reacting to the delay Mr Kyle, who was first elected MP for Hove in 2015, said the Government had already “wasted” nine months by failing to trigger Article 50 immediately after the referendum result.
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The Government should put Single Market and Customs Union membership back on the table
He said: “The Government wasted months after triggering Article 50 before starting negotiations and now we might not get to the meat of them before the end of the year.
“Ministers vowed to negotiate an agreement that delivers the 'exact same benefits' as Single Market and Customs Union membership, yet the clock is ticking and they could not be further from achieving that already unrealistic goal.
“To protect our economy, the Government should put Single Market and Customs Union membership back on the table as the best and quickest option for our future trade with the EU.”
Major business groups have repeatedly warned against a “cliff edge” scenario where the UK crashes out of the bloc in 2019 without any agreement on future trading and customs standards.
The main solution being touted by Remainers and liberal Leavers is that Britain continues to participate in the Single Market through membership of the European Economic Area (EEA).
This would likely involve the UK joining the European Free Trade Association (Efta) - a club of four non-EU nations who have close economic ties with the bloc but also the ability to seal their own trade deals.
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said such an “off the shelf” deal is available to Britain, and eurocrats believe it could be swiftly agreed as the basic conditions are already in place.
However, many Brexiteers feel this solution would be a betrayal of the Brexit vote as it would require the UK to continue accepting free movement and to follow some EU case law relating to the Single Market.