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The Institute of Economic Affairs, a rightwing think-tank which published the plan on Monday, billed it as a genuine alternative to Theresa May’s so-called Chequers proposal.
However, trade experts argued that the EU had already rejected some of the IEA’s key proposals, including ongoing regulatory recognition. The IEA plan centres on a Canada-style free trade agreement. This would be a looser arrangement than Mrs May wants, and would not in itself solve the EU-UK impasse over how to keep the Irish border free of customs checks.*
Eurosceptics are seeking to place pressure on Mrs May ahead of the Conservative party conference next week. The prime minister is battling to maintain the credibility of the Chequers proposal, after it received a bruising reception at last week’s informal EU summit in Salzburg. Mr Rees-Mogg said he hoped that Mrs May would realise public opposition to the Chequers deal, and would adopt the IEA’s plan instead. But he declined to set a deadline, saying it would be “discourteous”. [....]
Under the IEA plan, the UK would immediately work to replicate free trade agreements with third countries, and to prepare for deals with the US and India. David Henig, a former British trade official, said the report “proposes a ridiculous workload of trade negotiations”.
The IEA plan calls for a “more aggressive” UK negotiating stance: “if the EU refuses to recognise UK regulations on day one of Brexit, the UK should be prepared to take action in the WTO for violations of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (the GATT) and the Agreements on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT Agreement) and Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS Agreement).” [...]
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