In his speech in London tomorrow, the Chancellor is expected to
build on the Prime Minister’s vision for our future relationship
with the EU
The Chancellor will set out why it makes sense for both Britain
and the EU to continue to collaborate on financial services,
and will challenge the claim that financial services cannot be
part of an FTA. He will argue that “every trade deal that the
EU has ever done has been unique” and a bespoke arrangement
between the EU and the UK on financial services is “very much
in our mutual interest”.
He is expected to say:
“So it is time to address the sceptics who say a trade deal
including financial services cannot be done because it has
never been done before:
…to them I say ‘every trade deal the EU has
ever done has been unique’.
The EU has never negotiated the same
arrangement twice.
It has bespoke relationships with Turkey,
Canada, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland …
[…]
A trade deal between the UK and the EU
must start from the reality of today:
That our economies, including in Financial Services, are
interconnected;
That our regulatory frameworks are
identical;
[…]
And that our businesses and citizens depend
on cross-border financial services trade in their day-to-day
lives…
…when they buy a car…
…or take out a fixed rate loan…
…or hedge their fuel costs.
The EU itself pursued ambitious financial
services co-operation in its proposals for TTIP – which it
described as a partnership that would be: ‘more than a
traditional free trade agreement’.
And in its initial proposals for CETA…
Both CETA and TTIP were intended to promote
convergence between entirely separate markets…
…with different rules. And low levels of
interconnectedness. We can do so much better.
Back then, British and French officials
worked hand-in-hand on the proposals with the relevant parts of
the European Commission
At the time, people rightly argued that this
was a challenging objective…
…but it need not be so in a partnership
between the UK and the EU.
Our markets are already deeply
interconnected;
[…]
…and we have demonstrated how we can work
together over the past decade as we have repaired and
defended the financial stability of our continent.
If it could be done with Canada or the
USA…
…it could be done with the UK – the EU’s
closest financial services partner by far.
[…]
So I am clear not only that it IS possible
to include Financial Services within a Trade Deal but that it
is very much in our mutual interest to do so.”
