The European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has said the EU must ‘ask ourselves whether it is really in the EU interest for the UK to retain such a prominent position’.
According to Mr Barnier, London should lose its status as the European financial hub and not be allowed to become a stepping stone into the EU market or a manufacturing hub for the bloc after the end of the transition period this year.
He also told representatives of the European Economic and Social Committee that Britain should also not keep its large share of the lucrative market for testing goods to ensure they meet EU standards.
Mr Barnier said in a speech in Brussels: “During its 47 years of membership, the UK built up a strong position in the EU market in a number of strategic areas, financial, services, businesses, and legal services, and also regulation and certification,
“This was made possible by the fact that the UK was an EU member state within the Single Market. As it prepares to leave the Single Market and leave the Customs Union, we must ask ourselves whether it is really in the EU interest for the UK to retain such a prominent position.”
Mr Barnier warned against allowing the UK to assemble materials and goods sourced from all over the world before exporting them to the EU tariff and quota-free as a British good once a trade deal was signed.
This “would allow the UK to become a manufacturing hub for the EU”, Mr Barnier said, asked: “Do we really want the UK to remain a centre for commercial litigation for the EU when we could attract these services here?”
European Commission negotiators have rejected the repeated British offers for mutual recognition of third party conformity assessments, which would allow UK-based testing laboratories to certify cars, chemicals, marine equipment, organic and pharmaceutical products for export into the EU market.
Despite this, Mr Barnier said: “Do we really want to consolidate the UK position as a certification hub for the EU, knowing that it already controls some 15 to 20 percent of the EU certification market?”
A Number 10 spokesman said: “Brexit is about economic independence, and we gain more by being able to design our own rules to suit the best interests of our businesses and people in future.”
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Editor-in-Chief | Carl D. Pearson has been involved in British politics and media from an early age, with the key knowledge of what it takes to run a news organisation for the 21st century. Mr Pearson, as Editor-in-chief, is responsible for supervising the daily tasks of publishing media and content to UNN’s website and various platforms.
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