Post by Wayne Hall on May 8, 2020 21:44:17 GMT -5
Brussels and Britain clash over climate conditions in trade deal
In a story trailed on the newspaper’s frontpage, the Financial Times reports: “The UK is resisting EU moves to incorporate guarantees on respecting international climate change commitments in a future trade deal…EU officials said the most recent negotiating round with the UK had revealed a clear rift over co-operation in the fight against climate change.” The article, quoting “EU officials”, says the European Commission wants the Paris Agreement listed alongside other core principles, such as human rights and the rule of law, adding: “The move would create a legal justification for the EU to suspend preferential trading arrangements if Britain walked away from its Paris obligations.” The paper quotes a “UK government spokesperson” saying that the country is “absolutely committed to tackling climate change”. It adds that the spokesperson “confirmed Britain’s opposition to embedding legally binding pledges into any deal with the EU”.
The UK is resisting EU moves to incorporate guarantees on respecting international climate change commitments in a future trade deal, adding to mounting disagreements on both sides over how to forge their post-Brexit relationship.
EU officials said the most recent negotiating round with the UK had revealed a clear rift over co-operation in the fight against climate change.
The split is emblematic of broader difficulties both sides have identified after two rounds of future relationship talks, with negotiators at odds on the conditions that should be attached to a far-reaching trade deal.
While the EU wants to nail down guarantees about shared green ambitions, Britain argues that it should not have to make such legal commitments in exchange for preferential access to the European market.
The officials said that, during last month’s negotiations, a particular point of disagreement arose over how to weave the international climate deal struck in Paris in 2016 into the future relationship talks.
The EU wants to identify the emissions-reduction pact as an “essential element” in a future EU-UK trade deal, a status normally reserved for core principles such as respect for human rights and the rule of law. The move would create a legal justification for the EU to suspend preferential trading arrangements if Britain walked away from its Paris obligations.
“The commission had already foreseen to include the Paris agreement upfront as an essential element,” said one EU official. “This means de facto that both the EU and the UK commit to respect the Paris agreement, and in case one does not, the other party can take measures. For now, the UK does not seem to want this.”
Britain has made clear that it rejects the EU’s vision of an overarching future relationship agreement covering everything from trade to foreign affairs, with a single system for settling disputes. It has argued that any trade deal must respect the UK’s regulatory independence, and said that it would not sign up to conditions that went beyond those in the EU’s existing trade pacts with other countries.
A UK government spokesperson said that Britain was “absolutely committed to tackling climate change”, adding that the country would use its presidency of the next UN climate change conference to drive forward implementation of the Paris accord.
Last June the UK adopted a net zero carbon emission target for 2050, making it the first big economy to pledge to cut emissions to close to zero.
But the spokesperson confirmed Britain’s opposition to embedding legally binding pledges into any deal with the EU.
In a story trailed on the newspaper’s frontpage, the Financial Times reports: “The UK is resisting EU moves to incorporate guarantees on respecting international climate change commitments in a future trade deal…EU officials said the most recent negotiating round with the UK had revealed a clear rift over co-operation in the fight against climate change.” The article, quoting “EU officials”, says the European Commission wants the Paris Agreement listed alongside other core principles, such as human rights and the rule of law, adding: “The move would create a legal justification for the EU to suspend preferential trading arrangements if Britain walked away from its Paris obligations.” The paper quotes a “UK government spokesperson” saying that the country is “absolutely committed to tackling climate change”. It adds that the spokesperson “confirmed Britain’s opposition to embedding legally binding pledges into any deal with the EU”.
The UK is resisting EU moves to incorporate guarantees on respecting international climate change commitments in a future trade deal, adding to mounting disagreements on both sides over how to forge their post-Brexit relationship.
EU officials said the most recent negotiating round with the UK had revealed a clear rift over co-operation in the fight against climate change.
The split is emblematic of broader difficulties both sides have identified after two rounds of future relationship talks, with negotiators at odds on the conditions that should be attached to a far-reaching trade deal.
While the EU wants to nail down guarantees about shared green ambitions, Britain argues that it should not have to make such legal commitments in exchange for preferential access to the European market.
The officials said that, during last month’s negotiations, a particular point of disagreement arose over how to weave the international climate deal struck in Paris in 2016 into the future relationship talks.
The EU wants to identify the emissions-reduction pact as an “essential element” in a future EU-UK trade deal, a status normally reserved for core principles such as respect for human rights and the rule of law. The move would create a legal justification for the EU to suspend preferential trading arrangements if Britain walked away from its Paris obligations.
“The commission had already foreseen to include the Paris agreement upfront as an essential element,” said one EU official. “This means de facto that both the EU and the UK commit to respect the Paris agreement, and in case one does not, the other party can take measures. For now, the UK does not seem to want this.”
Britain has made clear that it rejects the EU’s vision of an overarching future relationship agreement covering everything from trade to foreign affairs, with a single system for settling disputes. It has argued that any trade deal must respect the UK’s regulatory independence, and said that it would not sign up to conditions that went beyond those in the EU’s existing trade pacts with other countries.
A UK government spokesperson said that Britain was “absolutely committed to tackling climate change”, adding that the country would use its presidency of the next UN climate change conference to drive forward implementation of the Paris accord.
Last June the UK adopted a net zero carbon emission target for 2050, making it the first big economy to pledge to cut emissions to close to zero.
But the spokesperson confirmed Britain’s opposition to embedding legally binding pledges into any deal with the EU.