The problems the EU is facing to enable the EU-Canada free-trade agreement (CETA) to be signed demonstrate that it is important for the United Kingdom to reach agreement on what it wants from the future talks with the EU over Brexit (the UK leaving the EU), the British trade minister, Liam Fox, told a British parliament committee on Wednesday 26 October.
Fox said the seven years it has taken to reach the CETA deal, and the delays in signing it after it was rejected by a Belgian regional authority, showed the difficulty of doing a deal with such a large number of partners, as reported by French press agency AFP on Wednesday afternoon.
Article 50 of the EU's Lisbon Treaty allows for an initial two year period of divorce talks before Britain leaves the EU. Any agreement reached in that time would not be subject to the same level of vetos as a free trade agreement, said Fox.
"That sort of procedure would only be undertaken were we to leave the European Union after our Article 50 period without any agreement whatsoever and were looking to seek a new FTA from outside. It’s in the interests quite clearly following this (CETA) experience for all concerned to minimise any sort of economic trade and political disruption to ensure that's done with the minimum of fuss", he said.
Fox said the experience of CETA may cause some to question the process of agreeing trade deals within the EU in future, with the European Commission likely to want to have greater control. "There are going to be a number of political tensions on how that process may go forward ... those who want to see greater trade liberalisation may be asking whether the current process is too lengthy and whether there are too many possible impediments", he said.
Finally, asked about the measures the UK will introduce to defend itself against unfair non-EU trading practices post-Brexit, such as Chinese dumping of steel products, Fox recognised the need for debate about the trade defence options available. "It is absolutely right that we will require to legislate prior to leaving the European Union in order to provide ourselves with trade defence from day one", he said. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)