UK seeks limited visa-free travel for citizens in Brexit White Paper
EU and British citizens should be allowed to travel without a visa for temporary work and holidays under plans unveiled in the UK government's long awaited Brexit White Paper.
The document, introduced to parliament by new Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab in chaotic scenes on Thursday, stated the UK would seek “reciprocal arrangements, consistent with the ending of free movement” that supported businesses to provide services and to “move their talented people”.
It added that the government wanted to allow young people and students to move freely “enabling them to continue to benefit from world leading universities and the cultural experiences the UK and the EU have to offer”.
While not outlining specifics, the document stated that government would discuss with the EU how to “facilitate temporary mobility of scientists and researchers, self-employed professionals, employees providing services, as well as investors”.
In an embarrassing start for Raab, parliament had to be suspended so that MPs could be issued with copies of the document despite the fact that it had been made available to journalists at 9 AM under embargo.
The document also seeks to establish plans for the UK to agree to to a “common rule book” of harmonised standards for goods including agri-food, although in reality the EU will be in charge of making any rules.
This was described as making an “upfront choice to commit by treaty to ongoing harmonisation with the relevant EU rules, with all those rules legislated for by parliament or the devolved legislatures”.
The paper also calls for facilitated customs arrangement (FCA) in which the UK would collect both UK and EU tariffs for goods entering Britain.
This would "remove the need for customs checks and controls between the UK and the EU as if they were a combined customs territory, which would enable the UK to control its own tariffs for trade with the rest of the world and ensure businesses paid the right or no tariff, becoming operational in stages as both sides complete the necessary preparations," the document states.
"In combination with no tariffs on any goods, these arrangements would avoid any new friction at the border, and protect the integrated supply chains that span the UK and the EU, safeguarding the jobs and livelihoods they support."