No10 has insisted joining a European trade bloc would not cross ‘red lines’ today after the EU hinted at the shape of Keir Starmer’s Brexit ‘reset’.
Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic pointed to the idea of Britain becoming part of the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Convention (PEM).
He also floated ‘dynamic alignment’ of food and farming rules to ease checks on borders. And he made clear that Brussels is determined to have a reciprocal scheme for younger people to work freely in the UK.
Europe minister Nick Thomas-Symonds tried to pour cold water on the prospect of joining the PEM this morning, saying there were currently no plans to do so.
However, No10 spread fresh doubts by stressing that it would not break any of the UK’s red lines. The Tories said Labour wanted to ‘bend the knee’ to Brussels, warning that the government must not give back control.
The PM has made improving ties with the EU one of his top priorities, but faces a tricky balancing act after ruling out being part of a customs union or the single market.
Any sign of the UK cosying up with the bloc could also prompt the wrath of Donald Trump, a long-time critic.
The PEM allows for tariff-free trade of goods across Europe, as well as some North African and Levantine nations.
Some business groups have backed joining PEM on the grounds it would help to maintain complex supply chains.
Speaking to the BBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Mr Sefcovic said the idea had not yet been ‘precisely formulated’ and that the ‘ball is in the UK’s court’.
The UK Government was said to have started consulting business on the benefits of the PEM plan and how it could help cut red tape and improve trade.
Mr Sefcovic also told the broadcaster he would like to see the possibility of a full-scale veterinary agreement between the EU and UK reviewed.
If UK food and farm products were given single market treatment, he said it would mean ‘we would have to have the same rules and we have to upgrade them at the same time, we call it dynamic alignment’.
A youth mobility scheme is thought to be a core demand for Brussels. Such an agreement could allow 18-30 year-olds to ‘travel, work and live’ across the EU and UK for up to four years. However, the Labour government has been unwilling to commit, amid fears that it could enrage Brexit supporters.
Mr Sefcovic said: ‘It’s not freedom of movement. It’s a bridge-building proposal.
‘We do not want to look like the demanders here, because we believe this is good for the UK.’
The EU chief said that he had the UK’s Europe minister Nick Thomas-Symonds ‘on speed dial’.
Downing Street tried to sidestep questions about the UK potentially joining a pan-European trade agreement.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said he would not get into a running commentary on specific options up for discussion with the EU.
But asked if a pan-European trade agreement would cross the red lines set out in Labour’s manifesto for EU ties, he said: ‘The arrangement that’s been discussed is not a customs union.
‘Our red line has always been that we will never join a single market, freedom of movement, but we’re just not going to get ahead of those discussions.’
In the Commons, Cabinet Office minister Mr Thomas-Symonds was asked by the Conservatives to rule out dynamic alignment.
The step ‘potentially brings the European court back into having jurisdiction over the United Kingdom’, shadow Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart said.
The Tory added: ‘Will he rule out the ECJ (European Court of Justice) having jurisdiction over the UK in any regard in future?’
Mr Thomas-Symonds responded: ‘We’ve set out our red lines in our manifesto, we’ve set out the examples of things we are seeking to negotiate. That is already there.’
The minister also told MPs: ‘We do not currently have any plans to join PEM, and we are not going to provide a running commentary on every comment that is made.’
Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel said: ‘Labour’s programme of bending the knee to the EU is disgraceful.
‘These latest reports that the Government might shackle us to the European Union are deeply concerning, and once again make clear that Keir Starmer and his chums are all too happy to put their ideology ahead of our national interest, no matter the cost.
‘The Conservatives will always fight for the democratic freedoms the British public voted for, and will not stand idly by in the face of Labour’s great betrayal of our country.’