Asked by Lord Wood of Anfield To ask Her Majesty’s
Government what steps they are taking to ensure continuity and
stability in trading arrangements for United Kingdom businesses in
the period between the conclusion of the Article 50 Brexit
negotiations and the commencement of new trade...Request free trial
Asked by
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To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are
taking to ensure continuity and stability in trading
arrangements for United Kingdom businesses in the period
between the conclusion of the Article 50 Brexit
negotiations and the commencement of new trade
arrangements between the European Union and the United
Kingdom.
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My Lords, we want a smooth and orderly exit from the EU,
and to provide certainty where we can. How the Government
achieve that will depend on the nature of the agreement
reached with the EU, but it would not be in the interests
of either side—Britain or the EU—to see disruption. The
Government are considering all possible options, focusing
on the mutual interests of our own country and of the EU.
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I thank the Minister for that familiar Answer. The case
for government working on a transition deal to provide
continuity and certainty for Britain, and for British
business in particular, at the end of Article 50 is
overwhelming. For one thing, it is difficult to find a
single person who thinks that a successful exit and
incorporation of EU law into British law can take place
within two years; for another, we know that the
negotiation of a new arrangement cannot start until the
Article 50 process has finished. Either the Government
are not working on a transition deal, in which case they
are severely letting Britain and British business down,
or they are, but they are not telling us. Which one is
it?
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The noble Lord, with his usual forensic skill, puts me in
an interesting position. Let me just repeat what has been
said. As a Government, my fellow Ministers and I have had
numerous conversations with business, and the noble Lord
is absolutely right that there is a considerable amount
of interest and concern in certain quarters as to what
will happen at the end of the two-year period. We are
very focused on that. As the Prime Minister has said, we
want to avoid a cliff edge. We want to provide certainty
where we can and are looking at all the options, although
I am not in a position here and now to go into that.
Clearly, some of those options will be dependent on what
comes out of the negotiations, but rest assured we are
very mindful of this issue.
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Would my noble friend distinguish between a transitional
negotiating phase and the transitional implementation
phase? Surely there is no reason why the negotiations
might not be completed in two years, whereas the
implementation, in order to avoid a cliff edge, might
take place over a longer period. But that is entirely
different from what the noble Lord was suggesting.
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My noble friend is absolutely right, and once again we
need to be very precise in the use of our language here.
In many treaties there are periods for implementation. In
other treaties, heads of terms might be negotiated and
they are a bridge between those heads of terms and the
end date. We need to be very clear what we are talking
about.
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My Lords, to remove potentially years and years of
uncertainty over tariffs and regulatory instability for
business, would not the clearest signal to British
business be for the Government now to indicate their
intention that the UK retain membership of the customs
union? Have the Government ruled this out?
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The noble Lord raises an issue that the Government are
analysing and assessing. There are a range of options
open to us regarding the customs union and other aspects
of our relationship with the EU. I will just repeat that
we want to have a smooth and orderly exit, and as the
Governor of the Bank of England pointed out yesterday,
such an eventuality is in not just our interests but the
interests of the EU itself.
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My Lords, would the Minister perhaps respond to the point
made by the noble Lord, Lord Wood: that you cannot start
the negotiations for the new external relationship until
after the withdrawal negotiations are concluded? I know
that is the view of some people in Brussels, but I hope
he will say that it is not the Government’s view and that
their intention will be, after triggering Article 50, to
begin the negotiations on a new external relationship
without delay, and not to accept that they have to wait
until the other negotiation is complete.
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The noble Lord speaks with great authority on this, and
he is absolutely right: there is nothing in Article 50 to
suggest that we cannot negotiate the exit treaty and our
new relationship with the EU at the same time. Indeed,
paragraph 2 of Article 50, which I have in front of me,
makes the point that the arrangements for a country’s
withdrawal will be negotiated,
“taking account of the framework for its future
relationship with the Union”.
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My Lords, does the Minister agree that Article 50 implies
that it can be revoked within the two-year period? Is a
corollary of that not that if there is any doubt about
that—this goes back to the question of the noble Lord,
Lord Hannay, about what has to happen within the two
years—or if the negotiation is not reaching a reasonable
conclusion, the Article 50 Bill can make provision to
reverse engines or revoke the Article 50 timetable?
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The noble Lord makes an interesting hypothetical point;
however, the Government are aiming to have a successful
outcome to the negotiations. It is a matter of government
policy that, once given, our notification will not be
withdrawn.
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Will my noble friend confirm that we remain full members
of the World Trade Organization in our own right, and
will he tell us what we get for our £5 million annual
subscription?
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My noble friend is absolutely right. We will continue to
remain a member of the WTO and place our schedules with
the WTO in due course. In terms of our contribution to
the WTO, our membership is very valuable in a range of
ways. We will seek to build on that relationship in the
years to come in order, as my right honourable friend the
Prime Minister has said, to become a global beacon for
world trade.
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My Lords, in response to the previous Question, the noble
Baroness, Lady Williams, said that the Government will be
working for the best possible outcome for the UK. Can the
Minister say precisely what that is, in terms of jobs and
the economy?
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First and foremost, it is critical that we continue to
build on the excellent competitive edge that this country
already enjoys, the good statistics we have seen coming
through and what the Governor of the Bank of England said
yesterday about the outlook for our economy. That means
providing certainty in the short and medium term,
building on that and making sure that our businesses
enjoy access to the markets of Europe in as free and
frictionless a way as possible, while ensuring that trade
from Europe continues with the UK.
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