Proposed “Moldovan model” could make EU free trade easier

The UK will not have a clean break with the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in March 2019, with papers published this week proposing a “Moldovan model”.

It is a recurring theme that there could be an extension to its jurisdiction in the UK, which could make a free-trade agreement easier.

Despite the Prime Minister making an unequivocal promise to leave the ECJ in her Lancaster House speech in January, the papers published by the UK Department for Exiting the EU don’t propose a clean break in March 2019. The ECJ may still have a part to play. The papers propose a committee or arbitration panel, with representatives from each of the parties and an agreed third party to resolve disputes. The “Moldovan model” is where the arbitration panel would have to refer the issue being adjudicated on to the ECJ where it involved the interpretation of EU law and be bound by the decision.

This has been picked up as a weakening of the Prime Minister’s stated position on the UK leaving the jurisdiction of the ECJ, which would make a free-trade agreement easier.

The common theme in the papers published by the UK Government over the past week is a desire to stay as close to the present trading arrangement as possible. The next round of Brexit negotiations are due to be held in Brussels starting next Monday 28 August.

Survey

Separately a survey by Food & Drink Federation has shown that over a third of food and drink sector businesses claim to be unviable without EU nationals.

The survey of the food and drink sector, which included members of the National Farmers Union, stated that 47% of businesses surveyed said EU nationals were considering leaving the UK due to uncertainty surrounding their future. Almost a third of businesses said they had seen EU nationals leave since the EU referendum.