The UK’s Rishi Sunak administration is reportedly working on moving the country into a Swiss-style relationship with the European Union. The British government wants to build a closer economic relationship with the EU to avoid current trade barriers, reported the Sunday Times.
As per the report, the move could take place over the next decade. This comes after Chancellor Jeremy Hunt signalled last week that the Sunak administration intends to break ranks with Boris Johnson’s approach with the bloc, as per the Independent. The report made it clear that the UK did not wish to reinstate provisions facilitating the free movement of people.
Like the UK, Switzerland is not a member of the European Union but has a closer economic relationship under a series of bilateral agreements. This gives the country free access to a part of the EU’s internal market, while also allowing the free movement of people.
The EU and the UK are locked in a long-running dispute over the Northern Ireland protocol; however, there have been renewed hopes in recent weeks. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt admitted this week that Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal caused damaging trade barriers with the EU.
Hunt also said that the UK was on the way to having a smooth trading relationship with the bloc even without rejoining the single market system.
The Independent reported that hardline Conservative MPs, who support Brexit, can throw spanners into the works of the Sunak administration. The Swiss-style model requires payments to the EU budget along with a more liberal migration policy, provisions that would not satisfy the pro-Brexit Tories.
Simon Clarke, the former levelling up secretary and a staunch Brexit supporter, was among the first ones to criticise the suggestion that the UK could adopt a Swiss-style arrangement. The Tory MP tweeted, “I very much hope and believe this isn’t something under consideration. We settled the question of leaving the European Union, definitively, in 2019.”
I very much hope and believe this isn’t something under consideration. We settled the question of leaving the European Union, definitively, in 2019. https://t.co/wWAfFBJ1Ku
— Simon Clarke MP (@SimonClarkeMP) November 19, 2022
(With inputs from agencies)
