Davis aiming to agree trade deal by March, admits article 50 can be extended
Brexit secretary David Davis has admitted that the article 50 deadline could be extended so the UK does not leave the European Union on 29 March 2019, while reports have suggested the EU is considering offering the UK a better trade deal.
The EU would consider offering the UK a better trade deal than the one it gave Turkey if it finally decides to remain in the customs union and would be prepared to listen to the UK on trade policy but only if it cedes autonomy, Bloomberg reported, citing an unnamed EU official.
Theresa May is set to meet senior ministers on Wednesday in a cabinet sub-committee meeting to discuss the UK’s and EU’s relationship post-Brexit.
The prime minister is under pressure to change her decision to leave the customs union but could risk her leadership if she does so.
Recently May proposed a plan for a “customs partnership” with the EU but leading Tory Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg said it was “completely cretinous” to think the UK would collect tariffs on the EU’s behalf for imports to Britain.
Ahead of a hearing with the Brexit special committee, Davis said that there are huge advantages for the UK of leaving the customs union and added that the solution for the Irish border issue isn’t needed until December 2020 when the transition period agreed ends.
Davis later told the committee that the government wants to finalise its trade treaty with the EU before the end of the Brexit transition period that begins on 29 March next year, with the EU unable to sign a trade deal until after the UK has left on that date and indicating this process could take years. He said the government was planning to negotiate a trade treaty later this year in time for parliaments on both sides to approve any deal.
"Various important players have made it very plain that they want the substantive future partnership to be very detailed, Angela Merkel has said that, even in October. So there’s no reason why we can’t turn a very detailed substantive arrangement into a treaty before the end of the Article 50 period," Davis said.
He said article 50 could be extended so the UK would not leave the EU next March, adding that there was little chance of the UK leaving the EU with no deal: “I do not think 'no deal' is a significant probability at all.”