UK sets up commission to reduce post-Brexit trade friction with EU

A cross-party group of UK Members of Parliament along with several business figures have set up an independent commission that will scrutinise and attempt to improve the country's post-Brexit trade deal with the EU and with the rest of the world.

The move comes following the government's decision in January to close a House of Commons select committee with a remit to examine UK relations with the EU. The move led to accusations from MPs that the government was avoiding scrutiny of the Brexit deal.

Read more: UK food & beverage products face "outright export bans" in wake of Brexit

Officially launching this week, the new trade and business commission will involve MPs from all parties and includes the former chair of the defunct committee on future UK-EU relations, Hilary Benn.

"This is different from the select committee I chaired because it brings together parliamentarians and business leaders and will have an intensely practical focus on the problems businesses are facing," said Benn.

The EU-UK trade deal came into force at the beginning of January and since then, businesses have been reporting major problems in dealing with bureaucracy.

January saw a drop in exports from the UK to the EU of 41% according to the Office of National Statistics, with imports falling by 29% - the largest declines since comparable records began in 1997.

During the lengthy Brexit negotiations, the UK government was accused by business groups and politicians from all parties of prioritising the reclamation of sovereignty from the EU, while neglecting the more pragmatic trade concerns held by a range of industrial sectors - from chemicals to automakers to pharmaceuticals.

Read more: UK exports to EU drop as Brexit disrupts trade

Chair of Virgin group Peter Norris, who is to sit on the commission, said that he hoped the government would listen to and be receptive to the body's ideas and suggestions.

"The [Brexit] trade agreement is not a complete body of work at this point," he told the FT. "It can be changed and added to and that needs to happen in light of evidence from practitioners on the ground."

Also sitting on the committee is Conservative MP Roger Gale, who said that businesses "in every sector and communities in every corner of the country" were feeling the impact of the Brexit trade agreement and that the new body would search for ways of improving it.

"This is about setting ideology aside and finding a pragmatic, evidence-based way forward," he said. "We want to ensure opportunities are seized to promote frictionless trade and to help the UK economy bounce back from the pandemic."

The new commission is planning to meet to hear evidence every two weeks until December when it will then produce a report highlighting areas in which the UK can take action or negotiate with the EU over.

The first session will happen on Thursday and will examine whether trade agreements with other countries can offset losses caused by new trade barriers with the EU.

Also read: UK applies for membership of Trans-Pacific free trade group

It remains unclear as to whether Downing Street will take notice of the commission's findings. When disbanding the previous committee, the government said that there would be "plenty of opportunities for questions, statements and debates" during the course of ordinary parliamentary business.

Alan Winters, who is a founding director of Sussex University's UK trade policy observatory and also a member of the commission, said that the government should look beyond the often bitter and divisive ideological disputes that dogged the Brexit debate since the referendum was first announced five years ago.

"Trade policy is still mired in partisanship,” he told the FT. "The government seems to think this excuses them from listening seriously to anyone else. This commission aims to hear from business and consumers and make considered recommendations. It can only be a force for good."

Back to Homepage

Back to Politics & Economics