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Commission officials told member state diplomats that breaches of the agreement would be punishable with a "lump sum" or "penalty payment", payable to Brussels within one month.
The plan is the latest to come out of a series of meetings in the EU capital aimed at getting member states and the Commission on the same page before talks start next month. The EU is planning to officially draw up its negotiating terms over the next few weeks.
In a further stipulation likely to enrage Brexiteers, the EU also wants its own European Court of Justice (ECJ) to have a starring role in arbitrating the deal. Brexiteers view the ECJ as a "foreign court" and many hard-liners believe Britain should not be under its jurisdiction after it leaves.
The ECJ would be joined by arbitration panels and a so-called joint committee to help judge whether either side had broken the rules.
If rules are ruled to be broken the deal would also give either party the right to suspend the trade agreement, under the EU plans. [...]
Full article on The Independent