Joining pan-Europe trade deal would not cross ‘red lines’ – No 10
Share:
Joining a pan-European agreement which could bolster post-Brexit trade would not cross the Government’s “red lines” for its future relationship with the EU, Downing Street has indicated. Maros Sefcovic, the official who led post-Brexit negotiations for the EU, told the BBC that the UK joining the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Convention (PEM) is “something we could consider”.
The deal allows for tariff-free trade of goods across Europe, as well as some North African and Levantine nations. Nick Thomas-Symonds, the minister responsible for UK-EU relations, had said he and his colleagues “do not currently have any plans” to sign up to the agreement.
But No 10 did not rule out the UK joining the PEM in future. The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said he would not get into a running commentary on specific options up for discussion with the EU. Asked if the PEM would cross the red lines set out in Labour’s manifesto for EU ties, he said: “The arrangement that’s been discussed is not a customs union.
“Our red line has always been that we will never join a single market, freedom of movement, but we’re just not going to get ahead of those discussions.”. Some business groups have backed the UK joining the PEM as it would help to maintain complex supply chains, but the previous Conservative government chose not to pursue it as part of a post-Brexit trade agreement.
