There is a recurring and important phrase in the 36-page document published this morning setting out “the UK’s approach to negotiations with the European Union”.
It is: “these provisions should not be subject to the Agreement’s dispute resolution mechanism outlined in Chapter 32”.
What this represents is an unambiguous and seemingly non-negotiable rejection by Boris Johnson’s Government of a demand from the EU that any free-trade deal with the UK should include what it calls “level playing field” provisions.
The EU says that for the UK to have a free trade deal with the EU involving zero tariffs and zero limits on how much can be traded between the UK and EU, there must be legally enforceable restrictions on the UK’s freedom to diverge from the EU on workers’ rights, taxation, subsidies to business and environmental protections.
Boris Johnson’s riposte is that there should be a right to consult each other on any of these issues that “might be considered to harm the interests of the parties”.
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