EU slaps down Labour’s bid for Single Market access | Politics | News
The EU has reportedly rejected a suggestion from British officials that a single market could be established with the bloc as part of the next phase of the government’s “reset” of relations. A European Commission spokesman declined to comment on the idea, adding that it was working to implement the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) trade agreement, the ETS link (integration of different cap-and-trade carbon markets) and the youth experience scheme.
They said there was the opportunity to “deepen cooperation” on defence, industrial cooperation, innovation financing for high-tech industries and migration. The EU does not expect the British government to take any major steps regarding its relations with the continent before the Makerfield by-elections in June. protector.
A Cabinet Office spokesman said: “We have previously confirmed that the next UK-EU summit will be held this summer. The final date will be confirmed in due course.
“We are negotiating an ambitious package of measures with the EU ahead of the summit, including a food and drink SPS deal and an emissions trading deal that alone will contribute up to £9bn a year to the UK economy by 2040.”
On May 10, it was reported that Britian would not rejoin the EU single market or customs union, despite Sir Keir Starmer promising to be “bolder” in forging closer ties with Brussels. Education Minister Bridget Phillipson said the “red lines” set by Labor would not change.
It comes as Joao Vale de Almeida, the former EU ambassador to the UK, admitted to the BBC this afternoon that the bloc is “not as attractive today as it was perhaps a few years ago”.
Former European Central Bank president Mario Draghi has warned that the EU faces the “slow agony” of recession in 2024.
“The current situation is really worrying,” Draghi said at a press conference in Brussels.
“Growth in Europe has been slowing down for a long time, but we ignored it” [it]… We can’t ignore this anymore. Now the conditions have changed.”
Mr Vale de Almeida added that the EU needed Britain to “help us prevent decline”.
“Britain can be a source of dynamism, a source of innovation, as it has been in the past,” he added.
In this context, Brexit is “also a great loss for the European Union”, said Mr Vale de Almeida, adding that the bloc will overcome the current difficulties.
