LONDON :- Britain is leaving the European
Union's single market but wants a "frictionless" new trade
relationship with the bloc, the government said Thursday in the most detailed
account yet of its EU exit plans. In a bid to ease uncertainty around the
U.K.'s exit from the European Union and appease opposition demands for greater
clarity the government published a White Paper outlining "strategic
aims" in divorce talks it plans to trigger within weeks.
Brexit Secretary David Davis told lawmakers
that Britain would work toward "a new positive and constructive
partnership" with the bloc and seek an outcome of "mutual
benefit" to both sides.
The 75-page document confirms what Prime
Minister Theresa May announced in a speech last month: Britain will leave the
EU's single market in goods and services, and also seek a new customs
arrangement with the soon-to-be 27-nation bloc.
Davis said the goal is "the most free
and frictionless trade in goods and services as possible." The word "frictionless"
appears frequently as Britain's ideal relationship, but the document does not
go into detail, noting that the eventual trade and customs relationships will
be hammered out during negotiations.
It says Britain will leave the single market
in order to gain control over immigration a key issue for many British
supporters of Brexit. But is also says Britain may retain "elements of
current single market arrangements." And there's no word on Britain's
future immigration rules. "We are considering very carefully the options
that are open to us," the paper says.
The document says Britain intends to
guarantee that almost 3 million EU citizens living in the U.K. and 1 million Britons who reside in other
member states can stay, blaming an unnamed minority of EU nations for
obstructing a deal so far. Although the tone is upbeat stressing Britons will
remain "reliable partners, willing allies and close friends" the
document gives a sense of the vast scale of the task ahead.
The paper says Britain will seek "the
closest possible cooperation on key issues like security, foreign policy and
science and technology" with the EU, but cannot say whether the U.K. will
remain a member of the EU police body, Europol.
It lists a raft of EU bodies, regulating vital
aspects of business and society, whose relationship with Britain will have to
be hammered out, including the European Aviation Safety Agency, the European
Food Safety Authority and the nuclear energy regulator Euratom.
On Wednesday, the House of Commons gave
initial approval to a bill authorizing Prime Minister Theresa May to trigger
exit talks. She plans to do that by March 31, invoking Article 50 of the EU's
key treaty and setting the clock ticking on a two-year deadline for a deal.
The White Paper says Britain is confident of
striking a deal by the deadline but that many of the changes may have to be
phased in gradually to avoid a "disruptive cliff-edge."
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