The author is Minister for Constitution and EU Relations
Today in London we welcomed EU Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic and EU Commissioner for Economy and Productivity Valdis Dombrovskis. His visit coincided with the signing of Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage daily Express Campaign for a “fair Brexit”.
Now if a “fair Brexit” means creating a successful trading relationship for the UK and the EU – one that cuts red tape, prioritizes growth and works in practice for consumers and businesses – then I agree that is a good idea. Sadly, though, I think that’s not what those signatories – the hard Brexit architects and (unsuccessful) guardians of the Brexit bonfire – actually meant.
However, for once, I’m happy to use the empty slogans that usually irritate me. We are seeing more of them as some politicians have returned to the same patterns as 2016 in EU discourse.
Readers will learn that trade negotiations are complex and better than arguments invoking the numbers on the big red bus. For too long we have had a Brexit that has been completely miserable and anti-growth. Far from delivering independence, the Conservative agreement forced Britain’s businesses to surrender to an aggressive bureaucracy.
Take, for example, Toby Owens’s evidence to the Business and Trade Select Committee. The managing director of Broughton Transport, a family-run UK logistics company, held up a sheet of paper. A decade ago, he used to fill it to export goods to the European Union. Now, this is two dozen pages, on which he counted twenty-six stamps. What’s worse, it was one of three certificates that came with one of his trailers at the border. A stamp out of place means rejection for the entire truck.
Our high quality British beef and lamb, part of a meat export market worth £1.6 billion, are a source of national pride. However, if the stamp is a few centimeters away from its place, the product will rot in the chiller fridge. This is the depressing, self-defeating reality. These are not theoretical problems; Around 223,000 British companies will trade goods with the EU in 2024. Unnecessary paperwork is hindering their success.
I doubt this is the outcome the Brexit architects wanted or even expected. But this was the option chosen by those who negotiated the Brexit deal. Obsessed with ideology, they were not motivated by what worked.
Resetting UK-EU relations requires a ruthlessly pragmatic approach. This means being honest with the voters in two ways. First, detailed conversation always takes time. Second, in that process, there is a temptation to reach beyond what is realistic or deliverable. But we can’t create our own version of the Red Bus Promise.
Rather, we will focus on where the real benefits are for people: food, drink and carbon trading. The total value of food, drink and carbon trade deals to our economy will be £9 billion a year by 2040. Reducing red tape will make it easier to export to the EU – our largest trading partner.
Morrisons chief executive Rami Batieh said that “removing trade barriers with the EU promises to reduce a source of pressure on food prices and so is good news for shoppers”. Other supermarkets have also made similar statements.
The Prime Minister has said that “if even closer alignment with the single market is in our national interest, we should consider that”. Šefčovič and I have agreed to work towards negotiating UK participation in the EU internal electricity market: good for consumers, businesses and investment in the North Sea.
It is about negotiating where it makes sense, enabling us to deliver the benefits now, while sticking to our manifesto promises not to re-join the single market or customs union or to reintroduce freedom of movement.
The UK is making a sovereign choice to join with another high standards jurisdiction – the EU – because it is in our economic interests to do so. What guides me in the negotiating room is what works for the carrier, the exporter, the price of the weekly shop, rather than obsessing over an inflexible ideology that helps no one.
International events in recent weeks have also reminded us that economic cooperation is not an addendum to security cooperation, but an essential part of it.
Without prosperity you cannot have security. And prosperity will be driven by removing the unnecessary barriers that hold back our great businesses – small, medium and large. It is about building a strong business relationship for the future: a new strategic partnership. You could call it a proper Brexit.
