1/ Wait, what is this? @DanielJHannan is arguing that we should be in the Single Market and a Customs Union. Well done Dan!
thesun.co.uk/news/6126568/s…
thesun.co.uk/news/6126568/s…
2/ Let’s look at the core arguments in his article in the Sun.
3/ Claim 1 – “Swiss border shows free movement works perfectly well without customs union..Brussels is trying to prevent a similar deal in Ireland”
4/ Of course Dan is mixing up (quite deliberately) the movement of people with the movement of goods. So Switzerland has a bilateral agreement with the EU regarding free movement and is also part of the Schengen area. So no-one has to show their passport at the border.
5/ As we all know, the UK opted out of Schengen. So Dan is advocating that the future agreement between the UK and the EU should have both free movement and the UK should be part of the Schengen area to avoid a hard border.
6/ Claim 2 “being in the [CU] does not make borders vanish. But if we are looking to make the frontier as unobtrusive as possible, Switzerland is the best place to start. Its free-movement agreement with its neighbours is similar to the one that exists between the UK & Ire.”
7/ But if we start with Switzerland, have free movement & Schengen, what happens to the movement of goods? If there is no customs union, goods have to be declared/checked which means a border with infrastructure which goes against the UK’s position of no border in Ireland.
8/ Despite Dan moaning about being in a customs union, Dan’s own words recognise that a customs union contributes to making sure there is no border. But alone it is not enough.
9/ So the logic of Dan’s conclusion (despite the rest of his article) is that to make a border vanish, we need free movement, we should be part of Schengen and we would need a customs union. But, of course that still does not go far enough.
10/ Claim 3 – “Of course, the way to avoid checks in Ireland is to have a comprehensive trade agreement between Britain and the EU that provides for mutual recognition.”
11/ Dan is arguing for mutual recognition because that is another core element to avoiding a border. How does he suggest we do that? Well by a comprehensive trade agreement...
12/ But Dan knows that mutual recognition is difficult when the UK has said it wants the right to be able to diverge. Which takes us to claim 4.
13/ Claim 4 – “The vote, after all, was a narrow one. We should be looking for compromises — remaining in some EU programmes, allowing EU nationals to take up job offers, maybe rejoining the European Free Trade Association.”
14/ Joining EFTA is a route to participating in the Single Market outside of EU membership via the EEA Agreement (putting aside whether the UK is still a member of the EEA Agreement in any case) which deals with the mutual recognition point.
15/ So there we have it, the logic of Dan’s own reasoning is that the best solution to avoid a border in Ireland would be to remain in the Single Market, have a customs union and join Schengen.
16/ He also thinks we should participate in some EU programmes. Presumably he means the EU VAT regime among other things as of course that is also needed to avoid a hard border.
17/ I thought this helpful to spell out as it was not immediately clear from his article.
