LONDON/BRUSSELS
(Reuters) - Britain urged the European Union on Monday not to separate goods
from services in Brexit talks, further outlining its negotiating stance
to try
to nudge discussions forward to a second phase on future relations.
But Michel
Barnier, the chief Brexit negotiator for the other 27 countries remaining in
the EU, poured cold water on chances that talks would move to what happens
after Britain leaves in March 2019.
"3rd
round of Brexit negotiations with UK begins next week. Focus on orderly
withdrawal," Barnier tweeted. "Essential to make progress on citizens
rights, settling accounts and Ireland."
The bloc has
said "sufficient progress" was needed on the three areas before the
bloc decides to launch talks on the future, including on trade rules.
Barnier said
last month that was less likely to happen in October, as previously expected,
because of lack of progress on the divorce settlement.
In two
position papers - one on goods and the other on confidentiality - the British
government set out more proposals that it said would help "give businesses
and consumers certainty and confidence" after Brexit materializes.
Much of what
it proposed was in line with the EU's own policy document published earlier
this year. But in one departure, Britain's paper said the provision of goods
and services should be treated as one, citing the example of a maintenance
contract that comes with the sale of an elevator.
"These
papers will help give businesses and consumers certainty and confidence in the
UK's status as an economic powerhouse after we have left the EU," Brexit
minister David Davis said in a statement.
"They
also show that as we enter the third round of negotiations, it is clear that
our separation from the EU and future relationship are inextricably linked ...
and (we) are ready to begin a formal dialogue on this and other issues."
John Foster,
director of campaigns at business lobby CBI, called the government's position
"a significant improvement upon the EU's current proposal", but said
the only way to offer companies certainty was to agree interim arrangements.
"The
simplest way to achieve that is for the UK to stay in the single market and a customs
union until a comprehensive new deal is in force," Foster said in a
statement demanding something Prime Minister Theresa May has ruled out.
After a slow
start to negotiations to unravel more than 40 years of union, Britain hopes
that by publishing policy papers and proposals for future ties it can persuade
the EU to move beyond discussion of the divorcement.
The two
papers published on Monday cover some of the easier parts of the negotiation
and followed a pattern of Britain wanting to mirror much of its existing
relations with the EU, which has said Britain cannot expect to enjoy as
advantageous ties outside the bloc as it has had inside.
The
government said it wanted goods on the market before Brexit to continue to be
sold without additional requirements, to avoid unnecessary duplication of
compliance activities and to facilitate the continued oversight of products.
But it said
one of the areas ministers would like to explore was that of services supplied
together with goods.
"The
discussions should take account of the deep connections between the
availability of goods and the services attached to goods, including those that
have been offered prior to exit," the paper said.
"The UK
wants to ensure that these connections are explored comprehensively through
discussions to avoid uncertainty and disruption to business and
consumers."
The EU's own
position on the matter only mentions goods, not services, and says those that
have reached the markets in the bloc and Britain before the exit date should
remain available under the existing, pre-Brexit rules.
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