Britain’s apparent determination to pursue trade talks with countries
outside the EU could significantly undermine its efforts to negotiate a
favourable Brexit deal and may well be illegal, diplomats and officials
have warned.
Theresa May meets Donald Trump on Friday to discuss a post-Brexit transatlantic trade deal the president has said he would like drawn up “quickly”, while Australia has said talks this week should “begin to lay the foundations” of a similar pact with the UK.
But EU officials and diplomats say that while no one can stop Britain
talking to future trade partners, any concrete attempt to negotiate
free-trade agreements before Britain leaves the bloc could rapidly sour
Brexit negotiations.
“They do need to be careful about this,” said one London-based EU27
diplomat. “No one will object to broad preliminary talks, but anything
that looks like proper negotiations … That would certainly not be well
received.”
Another diplomat in Brussels said the prime minister and her trade
team could “obviously have candid informal discussions”, but cautioned
it would “not be constructive if the UK did engage in actual
negotiations”.
The prime minister has said she intends to capitalise on Brexit by
making the UK a leading global free trade champion, negotiating new
agreements with countries such as the US, China, India, Australia and
New Zealand.
The international trade secretary, Liam Fox, has said the UK is “discussing the possible shape of new agreements” with at least 12 countries, adding that dozens more were prepared to expand their UK trading links.
Besides the risk of antagonising the EU at a time when Britain will
be seeking to strike the best possible exit deal with the bloc, formal
trade talks with countries outside the EU could also be illegal until
Britain leaves.
EU states cede their right to sign trade deals to the European
commission in Brussels and are formally prohibited from pursuing their
own agreements.
“Under EU law, no member state discussions on trade agreements – as
opposed to commercial deals, like selling planes – with non-EU countries
are possible at all,” said Steve Peers, professor of EU law at the
University of Essex.
However, Peers said it could be argued that “since it is leaving the
EU, the UK is not fully bound by that rule at long as it does not
actually conclude any treaties before Brexit day. The legal position is
not certain.”
Read more...
