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The UK could join a Europe-wide trading agreement as part of Sir Keir Starmer’s post-Brexit reset with the EU, one of the bloc’s top trade chiefs has said.
Maros Sefcovic, who led post-Brexit negotiations for the European Union, said it would consider letting Britain join the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Convention (PEM) as the PM chases closer ties with Brussels.
The PEM allows for tariff-free trade of goods across Europe, as well as some North African and Levantine nations.
Some business groups have backed the UK joining 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.
Speaking to the BBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Mr Sefcovic said the idea had not yet been “precisely formulated” and that the “ball is in the UK’s court”.
The UK government has reportedly begun consulting with businesses on the benefits of the PEM plan and how it could help cut red tape and improve trade.
Mr Sefcovic also told the broadcaster he would like to see the possibility of a full-scale veterinary agreement between the EU and UK reviewed.
If UK food and farm products were given single market treatment, he said it would mean “we would have to have the same rules and we have to upgrade them at the same time, we call it dynamic alignment”.
Asked about the proposal, housing minister Matthew Pennycook told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We are not seeking to participate in that particular arrangement.
“In general, the government has been very clear that we do want a closer relationship with our European partners, both in trading terms, but also importantly, in terms of security and defense cooperation, where we need to work far more closely.
“So absolutely, yes, we do want a closer relationship, but as for this particular arrangement, no, we’re not seeking to participate in it at the present time.”
But Dr Mike Galsworthy, chairman of the European Movement UK, told The Independent: “With growth stalled and exports falling through the floor since we left the EU, Keir Starmer should welcome the offer of joining the PEM customs arrangement with open arms.
“But we should go further. Joining the EU customs union would ease so many of the trade barriers our businesses have faced since we left the EU. And restoring to our young people the rights they once enjoyed to travel and work freely across our continent.”
The lack of a veterinary agreement after Brexit has been a major sticking point for UK food businesses hoping to export to Britain’s nearest neighbours.
The intervention comes six months into Sir Keir’s ambitious plan to broker a new trade relationship with the EU. He has held a series of meetings with European leaders, including visiting European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels in October and hosting Emmanuel Macron at his grace and favour country estate Chequers this month.
Another key sticking point in the reset so far has been Sir Keir’s reluctance to accept a youth mobility scheme with Brussels, which would allow under-30s to study, work and travel across the European Union for up to two years.
The PM is wary of agreeing to anything that his opponents could portray as a betrayal of Brexit, while some in government fear a youth mobility scheme would drive up immigration numbers.
Europe’s other key demands centre on EU access to UK fishing waters and Britain’s adherence to rulings of the European Court of Justice.
