Britain ready to 'align' with some EU rules, says minister
By The New Obs with AFP
Published on
The British and European flags on a building in London, February 2007
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer , who is hosting the first post-Brexit EU-UK summit on Monday, May 19, is preparing to sign a new multi-sectoral agreement with the European Union this week, the details of which remain unclear. The meeting in London aims to agree on steps towards a closer relationship between the UK and the 27-member bloc, five years after their acrimonious divorce.
EU relations minister Nick Thomas-Symonds told the BBC on Sunday that details of the deal were still being worked out.
The Labour government has taken a pragmatic approach, "when it is in our national interest to align ourselves with common standards to facilitate trade and enable businesses (...) to start trading with the EU again," he explained.
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Keir Starmer has ruled out joining the customs union and single market, but suggested the UK was willing to align with EU regulations on food and agricultural products.
Downing Street argued that a deal would help British producers "who face red tape and controls when it comes to exporting to our closest and most important trading partner" and would lower prices.
EU diplomats in Brussels are seeking to get Britain to keep its waters open to European fishermen in exchange for easing controls on some food imports from the UK.
The opposition cries capitulation"It looks like we're giving up our fishing quotas and becoming an entity subject to Brussels' rules," Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said. Along with the leader of the anti-immigration Reform UK party, Nigel Farage, she called the future agreement a "sellout," with both saying they would abandon it if elected.
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