FILE PHOTO: Union Flags and European Union flags fly near the Elizabeth Tower, housing the Big Ben bell in Parliament Square in central London, Britain September 9, 2017. REUTERS/Tolga Akmen/File Photo
May 17, 2018
LONDON (Reuters) – Britain is considering applying the EU’s external tariffs for a time-limited period beyond December 2020 as part of a backstop arrangement in the event of a delay in the implementation of any Brexit deal, a source familiar with the discussions said.
The source said on condition of anonymity that the government was trying to find a way to make the backstop arrangement with the European Union more acceptable to Britain, rather than seeking an extension of a transition period.
Prime Minister Theresa May has been struggling to unite her cabinet over the terms of Britain’s divorce with the EU, with a row over future customs arrangement dividing her government and all but stalling Brexit negotiations.
She has to balance the demands of Brexit supporters against those ministers who want to keep the closest possible ties to the EU, and any hint that Britain could stay within the customs union has become a major flashpoint.
In Bulgaria for an EU summit, May denied she would ask Brussels to stay in the customs union beyond the end of the post-Brexit transition period in 2020.
The source said discussions over the backstop arrangement were part of the government’s contingency planning and could be used if there was a delay in the ratification of a Brexit deal or if there were problems with introducing new technology at the border with EU member Ireland.
Even if the back-stop arrangement was triggered, Britain would be able to implement new trade deals because the country would be outside the EU’s economic architecture, the source said.
May has long vowed to leave the EU’s customs union, saying that was the only way to offer Britain the chance to negotiate its own trade deals – a demand of the Brexit campaign.
But critics have said that by leaving the customs union, May has increased the chance of a return to a hard border between the British province of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which could reignite sectarian violence.
(Reporting by Estelle Shirbon, Elizabeth Piper and Andy Bruce; Editing by Kate Holton and Matthew Mpoke Bigg)
