Davis calls on EU to move Brexit talks forward amid warning of delays
As Britain prepares to publish five papers, it urges the EU to consider discussing trade relations along with divorce issues.
Monday 21 August 2017 02:53, UK
Britain will publish further details of its Brexit negotiating strategy later in an attempt to push talks towards a future trade relationship.
Brexit Secretary David Davis has urged the European Union to discuss aspects of the future relationship now, arguing it is "inextricably linked" to some withdrawal issues that must be worked through first.
"With the clock ticking, it wouldn't be in either of our interests to run aspects of the negotiations twice," he wrote in the Sunday Times.
But Slovenian prime minister Miro Cerar suggested the issues in the first stage - a financial settlement, citizens' rights, and the Irish border - were too complex to solve in time to allow trade talks to begin in autumn, as hoped for by both sides.
Mr Cerar, who will be one of the 27 EU leaders at October's summit, told the Guardian: "I think that the process will definitely take more time than we expected at the start of the negotiations.
"There are so many difficult topics on the table, difficult issues there, that one cannot expect all those issues will be solved according to the schedule made in the first place."
EU officials have said there must be "sufficient progress" in the first stage of talks on the three key issues. Only then, can talks on a future trade arrangement begin.
This has frustrated officials in Britain, who are keen to bring clarity to anxious businesses, citizens and investors.
Ahead of a new round of talks in Brussels next week, the Government will publish five new papers today to further outline its strategy, ranging from regulation of goods to data protection.
Last week, it issued proposals for a future customs agreement with the EU and a possible solution for to avoid a return of border posts with the Republic of Ireland.
A key document is expected on the Government's favoured approaches to enforcing rights outside the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
Disagreement over the ECJ's role is a major sticking point in the talks, with the UK aghast at Brussels' insistence that EU citizens' rights should be enforced by the court after Brexit in March 2019.
The paper will set out different possible approaches to end the "direct jurisdiction" of the ECJ but still enforce individuals' and businesses' rights after Brexit, Mr Davis said.
He said Britain's proposals would be based on "precedents" which do not involve the "direct jurisdiction" of the court.
"Ultimately, the key question here is how we fairly consider and solve disputes for both sides," Mr Davis wrote.
Meanwhile, Sir Paul Jenkins, who was the Government's most senior legal official for eight years until 2014, told The Observer that Britain would have to replicate EU rules and submit to the ECJ "in all but name" if it wants to remove hard borders.
Of the other documents to be published by the Government, one will be a technical paper dealing with services associated with the production, sale and distribution of goods, along with their operation and repair.
In another, the Government will say it is important to establish a framework on confidentiality to ensure the current system for exchanging official documents is protected.
Meanwhile, a group of Brexit-backing economists have urged the Government to abolish all trade barriers after leaving the European Union despite previously admitting it would "mostly eliminate manufacturing" in the UK.
The Economists for Free Trade, a group of 16 experts led by Cardiff University economics Professor Patrick Minford, said that abolishing barriers such as tariffs could boost the economy by £135bn a year.
This would give each household a £5,000-a-year boost.
The idea was rejected by the Open Britain campaign group as "absurd" and a blueprint for "economic suicide".