These two aspects of the UK’s post-Brexit plan are ‘out of the question’
EU negotiator Michel Barnier says the divorce is 80% agreed, but risks being scuppered by no deal on the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland
London — EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier warned that two key elements of the UK’s post-Brexit trade plan are "not acceptable", according to remarks to a parliamentary committee published on Friday. The transcript of a hearing held earlier this week contradicts a claim made by a pro-EU opposition MP that Barnier said the entire proposal was "dead". However, he made it clear that the EU would not accept London’s proposals for customs arrangements and for a common EU-UK rulebook on goods to ease trade between the sides after Brexit. They "would call into question the very integrity of our single market …. That is totally out of the question", he told the House of Commons Brexit committee at a hearing in Brussels on Monday. His comments will embolden critics of UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s so-called Chequers plan in Britain, who argue that trying to stay close to the EU while cutting some ties is the worst of all worlds. The plan is opposed by both Brexit supporters in May’s own C...
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