“With the Brexit clock ticking, and concerns mounting about future frictions at UK borders, PM May will on Friday convene her Cabinet ministers for an ‘away-day’ in a bid to forge a unified stance on the future trading relationship,” note ING analysts.
Key quotes
“Of course, this isn’t the first time ministers have met like this. Cast your mind back to February, when the Cabinet gathered at Chequers (the PM’s rural retreat) and agreed to pursue the so-called “three-baskets approach” – a policy that would see the UK remain aligned to EU rules in some economic areas, whilst diverging in others.”
“This approach was quickly met with a cold reception in Brussels. EU officials were primarily concerned about cherry-picking, but the bigger short-term issue was that it would likely result in friction on the Irish border. Two subsequent customs proposals made by the UK – so-called “max-fac” and “customs partnership” models – have been widely rendered as either politically or practically implausible.”
“So at Friday’s meeting, May will reportedly propose a “third way”. This is likely to amount to the UK joining a customs union with the EU, as well as remaining in the single market for goods (including agriculture) – albeit probably under different names.”
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