Q. What is HM Government's view of the European Council's (EU 27) decision last Friday on next steps for Brexit?

A. We welcome agreement on the withdrawal issues including the protection of citizens' rights, as well as on the post-Brexit implementation period to end 2020. This did not include agreed measures for Northern Ireland, where the Good Friday Agreement is at the heart of the approach which no one wants to disrupt. We want to retain the Common Travel Area in Ireland and future border management may involve use of technology. This is a sensitive and complicated issue. Brexit is about sovereignty: control over our laws, our borders and our money. Currently the withdrawal bill is before Parliament and is about converting EU law into UK law, to come into effect the day we leave.

 

Q. Does HMG have a view on the European Parliament's recent proposal for a comprehensive four-part Association Agreement?

A. This is a unique, new and special situation. So it is not a question of copying existing EU agreements with Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Canada. We have set out what we want, to be outside the EU but in a close relationship, a partnership with the EU, with trade as frictionless as possible since we are championing free trade. There are very integrated supply chains across Europe that should remain. As the Prime Minister Theresa May said in her Mansion House speech on 2 March, UK will be outside the Single Market and the Customs Union. So we are looking for an arrangement where our respective regulations are as closely aligned as we can get them. People point out that the trade deal with Canada took seven years to negotiate, but that started from a position of divergent trade rules. In the Brexit case we start from the same rules. It will be for Parliament to decide which EU laws to keep, amend or abolish to be done knowing the potential impact on our market access. As the Prime Minister stated we may want to keep the regulations in many sectors, for example, on competition and state aids where we want to stay closely aligned. But for other sectors the UK Parliament may not want convergence. Where there is an issue of law or interpretation we will want to take European Court of Justice decisions into account, but we will not be subject to the ECJ.

 

Q. What is the UK vision for future trade relations with non-EU nations?

A. There are some 40 trade agreements to be negotiated (to replace our participation in EU ones). It is important to note that 90% of future growth will be outside of the EU such as in Asia. Then there are other multilateral agreements where the EU represents the 28. We have already been talking to a great number of countries.

 

Q. What kind of post-Brexit defence and foreign affairs partnership with the EU does the UK visualise?

A. As the Prime Minister stated in her speech to the Munich Security Conference on 17 February our continuing commitment to European security is unconditional, we want a close partnership. The UK has the largest defence budget in Europe, it is second only to the US and the only NATO member to meet the NATO 2% of GDP defence spending target and spend 0.7% on overseas development aid. We are very active in European defence and want to continue our close cooperation in operations, work closely with the newly established EU Permanent Structured Cooperation on security and defence (PESCO). There are also internal security issues, countering terrorism, all the cooperation mechanisms such as the European arrest warrant. We want the same degree of collaboration and exchange of information as exists now. In Munich the Prime Minister proposed a UK-EU treaty covering internal security issues.

 

Q. Is the issue of financial services, the status of the City of London finance centre vis-a-vis the EU after this period a real 'problem' as some commentators indicate, or not?

A. We have said that we want a free trade agreement which would cover financial services. So far we have talked about having a system of mutual recognition, also called "equivalence" which would also cover labour mobility in the sector. Some elements in the EU want a bad deal for the City of London, but a bad deal for the City is a bad deal for the EU. The City manages ‎€8 trillion worth of assets, of which ‎€1.5 trillion on behalf of EU clients. The City is a European asset, also a global centre and employing 10 times as many people as the EU financial centres.

 

 Q. The UK's 'exit bill' has been reported as being £37bn payable up to 2064. Is this figure correct?

A. It is not an exit bill. A mechanism has been agreed to determine what the UK owes in terms of its obligations to the EU and the number is less than what has been said. We also wish to continue participating in certain agencies and programmes, which will involve payments into the EU.

 

Q. How will UK-Malta bilateral relations change, and not change, post-Brexit?

A. They will remain as strong as they are now if not become stronger.