UK officials have indicated that the government is willing to align British food regulations more closely with the EU’s to achieve a fresh deal on cutting border checks for imports and exports.
According to a Bloomberg report, the UK government is considering ‘dynamic alignment’ on a range of rules regarding meat and dairy products.
It is also open to allowing the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to have oversight on food regulation, according to anonymous members of the government. They were speaking to Bloomberg ahead of the UK-EU summit taking place next month (19 May).
SPS hopes
A sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement with the EU was among the pledges in the Labour manifesto at the most recent general election.
Traders have frequently shared their hopes with the Daily Update that the UK could strike a deal with the EU to reduce border checks on food products.
ECJ oversight
Openness to allowing ECJ oversight marks a change in approach from the one adopted by the previous Conservative administration.
It could also affect the ability of the UK to sign trade deals with other nations whose regulations diverge from the standards of the EU.
The officials who spoke to Bloomberg said that they hoped negotiations on SPS alignment would begin following the upcoming summit.
The government has emphasised, however, that there will be “no return to freedom of movement, the customs union or the single market”, and that it “will not provide a running commentary on talks” with the EU.
Frosty reception
Former UK negotiator with the EU, Lord Frost, has already responded to the reports to say that accepting ECJ oversight would mark a “terrible deal”.
Speaking to the Express, he said that the UK’s “struggle for control and independence” was being reversed “for nothing in return” by the Labour Party. He added that he hoped a reversal of any such agreement would make it into the next Conservative manifesto.
Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel said the government would be “surrendering our sovereignty” if it struck an agreement including ECJ oversight, accusing it of “imposing EU laws on us through the backdoor”, which she added would “make Britain a rule-taker and subject us to ECJ decisions”.
Defence agreement
The suggestion of a new SPS deal comes as the EU and UK also appear close to a new defence agreement, according to Politico.
An EU diplomat told the publication, following a preliminary meeting ahead of the UK-EU summit, that there is an “expectation” that a new defence deal will be announced there next month.
However, another emphasised that “any progress on a security and defence agreement is linked to progress on fisheries”, as France and Denmark seek continued access to UK waters for fishing. UK fisheries minister Daniel Zeichner told a parliamentary committee last week, however, that there would be “no linkage” between the policy areas.
