EU Dismisses Britain's Post-Brexit Customs Trade Proposal

By Jack Duffy

     PARIS (MNI) - EU officials dismissed Britain's proposal for an interim

customs agreement following Brexit, saying other divorce issues must be settled

first.

     In the second of series of position papers on Brexit, the government

proposed a temporary period of tariff-free, light-bureaucracy trade to address

concerns of companies about disruptions following Brexit. 

     But Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament's Brexit coordinator, rejected

the proposal before it was even officially published.

     "To be in & out of the Customs Union & "invisible borders" is a fantasy.

First need to secure citizens rights & a financial settlement," Verhofstadt said

it a Twitter post. 

     The European Commission said in a statement Tuesday that "we take note of

the UK's request for an implementing period and its preferences as regards the

future relationship, but we will only address them once we have made sufficient

progress on the terms of the orderly withdrawal." 

--MNI Paris Bureau; tel: +33 1-42-71-55-41; email: jack.duffy@marketnews.com

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com

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