MPs urge government to ‘compromise’ and accept EU standards to secure Brexit deal

Prime Minister Boris Johnson and EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen in a meeting in Downing Street. Photograph: Kirsty Wigglesworth/PA. - Credit: PA

A committee of cross-party MPs are urging the government to ‘compromise’ by agreeing to sign up to European Union standards in order to make a breakthrough in Brexit talks.

Last week Boris Johnson urged the EU to ‘put a tiger in the tank’ and step up efforts to secure an agreement by the end of July.

But the EU has insisted that the UK adhere to a ‘level playing field’, to ensure fair competition by keeping the UK closely tied to EU standards on workers’ rights, the environment and state subsidies, but it has so far proved a major stumbling block during the negotiations.

MPs on the Future Relationship with the European Union Committee have called on ministers to ‘show where they are willing to move’ by agreeing to follow the terms as a base mark for UK standards when the transition period ends next year.

The committee’s recommendation is that should the UK then want to lower standards beyond the EU benchmark, it might have to accept a change in the level of European single market access available to the country.

In the committee’s The Need for Progress in the Negotiations report, the MPs said: ‘The UK’s and EU’s respective red lines make it difficult to find common ground on ‘level playing field’ issues.

‘We urge the parties to look for a solution that takes as its starting point the de facto alignment of the UK and the EU when it comes to current rules and standards, and explore how the UK and the EU could be given access to their respective markets on the basis that if either side moves away from these standards, or acts in a way that one side believes gives the other an unfair competitive advantage, then that access could be varied.’

The report also urges the EU to give its chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, ‘greater flexibility in his mandate’ in order to increase the likelihood of a deal being struck.

Hilary Benn, chairman of the committee, said: ‘Covid-19 has understandably dominated the efforts of political leaders in Europe since March, but negotiations with the EU remain critically important to the UK’s economic future.

‘Whilst both sets of negotiators have worked hard in challenging circumstances, it has become increasingly clear that political leadership is needed if an agreement is to be reached in time to prevent the UK leaving the transition period on December 31 2020 without an agreement.

‘With the global economy facing an unprecedented economic shock as a result of Covid-19, and just over four months left in effect to reach an agreement, both sides must show a willingness to compromise on the areas currently in dispute.’

The MPs’ report also echoed the call made by their elected counterparts in Brussels for no-deal preparations to be ramped up.

The current transition arrangements expire at the end of the year and MEPs have urged the EU to step up planning for a no-deal scenario on January 1.