The British prime minister, Theresa May, suffered a setback over her government's decision to leave the customs union with the European Union.
On Wednesday evening 18 April, the House of Lords adopted (348 votes for, 225 against) an amendment that includes within the draft law on the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union, the possibility for the country to remain within the customs union.
The leader of the Liberal Democrat Party (a centrist political party and supporter of remaining in the EU), at the House of Lords, Richard Newby, (quoted by AFP) stated, “This is an extremely important moment. The House of Lords is united in demonstrating to the government that maintaining a customs union is key to the future prosperity of the United Kingdom”.
Other political leaders, however, issued a warning to the Lords, such as the Conservative, Michael Forsyth, according to whom the decision of the Lords to recast the text risked “setting public opinion against the Peers”.
In a press release, the Minister for Brexit regretted the result of this vote while repeating the position of the government in a press release- “We are leaving the customs union and setting up an ambitious customs agreement with the EU, while nurturing new trade relations with our partners throughout the whole world”.
If it remains within the customs union with the EU, the UK will not be able to develop bilateral trade agreements with third countries. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)