ACCORDING to the Prime Minister, a deal on the future relationship between the EU and the UK is within our grasp. The political declaration, which outlines how trade, security and other issues will work, has now been agreed in principle and could be signed off this weekend. The declaration would then form the basis for a trade agreement to be negotiated during the transition period. Theresa May says she is determined to make it happen.
But what is “it” exactly? Mrs May was making much of the declaration during the debate in the Commons, but it is a document low on facts and high on the kind of vagueness and promises that we have become wearily used to over the last two years.
For instance, in a clear sop to the Brexiters, there is talk about possible technological solutions to the border in Northern Ireland. The declaration also continues to perpetuate the myth we can have frictionless trade between the UK and the EU and leave the single market and the customs union.
The practical obstacles to progress have also not gone away. The debate in the Commons emphasised once again the opposition there is in the House to Mrs May’s Brexit. There are plenty of other hurdles too, including the ongoing court case on whether the UK could change its mind on Brexit and revoke Article 50. And the agreement of some of the other EU nations looks far from guaranteed – Spain has been expressing concern over Gibraltar while France has been pushing back on fishing rights in UK waters.
In response, Mrs May says she is focused on working with Europe to bring the process to a conclusion, but her insistence that we have taken a significant step forward is misplaced at best. Indeed, given its inherent vagueness, it is misleading to call this a deal at all. It is a deal saying that a deal will be done in the future; it is an agreement that there will be an agreement. The real negotiations on a deal have not even begun.
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