Some interest in @OpenEurope idea of extending an aspect of transition period as a potential compromise given Cabinet stalemate on customs policy. Here's a quick thread. 👇
1) This is something we have thought might have been necessary since around the time when we published our paper on Customs last March (yes this argument has been going that long) openeurope.org.uk/intelligence/e…
2) In PM's Lancaster House speech she spoke of a phased exit from different aspects of EU so that idea has been Government policy since early 2017.
3) I'm not proposing a general extension of the standstill transition - where everything changes for everything to stay the same. That should end in December 2020.
4) It's possible to imagine though extending aspects of the transition - for example the UK seeking a temporary customs union as a way to allow both sides to make further preparations, while ending CAP, CFP, Free Movement etc
5) There's a broad concensus in Think Tank world that UK isn't ready for leaving customs union. In part this is because HMG has been moving too slowly. But there's also an issue with EU ports which have made little preparation either.
6) For a totally frictionless border during that extended customs transition, the EU would want the UK to continue applying all Single Market regulations. So no divergence during that time. Important to consider this too.
7) Some will roll their eyes at yet more delay. And I accept it's far from ideal. But Whitehall wise heads would say "we are where we are". And this might just offer a way out of the current bind. And a way to avoid the Customs Partnership mess.
8/8) It ought to be expressly clear (on both sides) that this is a time-limited extension of customs transition. What we should not do is offer an open-ended transition which the EU can choose when to end. Otherwise @JGForsyth warning of "le provisoire qui dure" could come true
