UKIP MEP William Dartmouth, the party’s National Spokesman on Trade, has hit out at suggestions the UK should follow the Norwegian or Swiss models for trading with the EU, saying we don’t need a trade agreement to “access” the European single market. While we can certainly trade with EU countries without being in the single market, EU single market membership makes that trade a great deal easier and more profitable.
In a letter to the Financial Times, on Jan 22, Dartmouth said the Norwegian model is not UKIP’s preferred post-Brexit model, and “it never has been”. That’s largely true, though the party’s 2005 manifesto said the Norwegian model could be an “appropriate temporary framework” while a long-term post-EU model was negotiated.
He also asserts Switzerland has never been UKIP’s model. This is untrue; the party’s 2010 manifesto said it would “withdraw from the political EU superstate, and maintain a trade-based relationship… using a Swiss-style free trade agreement”.
It would be unfair to blame Dartmouth for being confused about UKIP’s official plan, if only because the party doesn’t appear to have one. UKIP’s current line – repeated by Dartmouth – is that they want a “bespoke UK-EU trade agreement”. It remains to be seen precisely what that would mean. In the event that UKIP got their wish, the uncertainty over negotiation would be bad for exporters.
Dartmouth suggests we could “trade with the EU under World Trade Organisation rules”, following in the footsteps of “six of the top 10 exporters to the EU, and 11 of the top 20”. It is true the United States and China, for example, do a lot of trade without a trade agreement with the EU, but that doesn’t mean they wouldn’t do more trade, and be better off, with such an agreement in place.
Dartmouth concludes his letter by conflating single market access with trade. He says “a country does not need to be a member of the EU, or of the EEA… in order to have “access” to the EU’s single market”.
“Access” to the single market does not just mean trade with EU states, it is about adopting common standards and regulations, including environmental regulations. Being inside the single market means benefitting from measures including tariff-free trade between EU states, and significantly reduced non-tariff barriers.
If we want to continue to benefit from such measures, we will need to be a member of the EU or EEA, both of which UKIP appear to rule out. It would still be possible to trade with EU member states without any sort of agreement in place – it simply would not be on terms as favourable as those we currently enjoy.
InFacts contacted Mr Dartmouth’s office, but did not receive a response prior to publication.
This article was published previously on 22 Jan. 2016 on hugo-dixon.com
Edited by Yojana Sharma
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