Friday 5 June 2020

British sovereignty for cheaper strawberries


The Graun reports that 

Britain must give away some sovereignty to secure free trade with the EU but Europe’s leaders will intervene in the negotiations in the autumn with the aim of sealing a compromise deal at a summit on 15 October, Germany’s ambassador in Brussels has said. ...The signal that the EU’s 27 heads of state and government are prepared to turn their focus to the stalling talks will be a boost to Downing Street, where officials have emphasised the need for a resetting of Michel Barnier’s negotiating position.
 To counter any perceived advantage of going over the head of the EC though:
A greater cause of concern will be the German ambassador’s insistence that a trade deal will require the abandonment of the UK’s sovereign right to set its own domestic laws without recourse to Brussels....In contrast, Barnier has repeatedly rejected British claims that the trading away of sovereignty is implicit in the EU’s stance on standards and rules on subsidies to business.
All agreements involve some sort of abandonment of pure sovereignty, of course, which is apparently how Barnier is trying to sell it, but there is a difference between trading some of that sovereignty for trade benefits, renegotiable in the future, and some commitment to a binding non-negotiable agreement which is what the EU seems to require.Will we have to sign up to the 'Four Freedoms' again?


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