Delivering a blow to the British government's post-Brexit plans, The European Union 's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier on Thursday categorically ruled out a new customs arrangement put forward by the U.K. as a way to overcome the biggest obstacles to completing a withdrawal treaty.
“The EU cannot — and the EU will not — delegate the application of its customs policy and rules, VAT and excise duty collection, to a non-member who would not be subject to the EU’s governance structures,” the European Union 's chief Brexit negotiator said at a news conference at the European Commission headquarters — the first alongside his new British counterpart, Dominic Raab.
May’s recently published white paper calls explicitly for the U.K. to leave the EU’s customs union and single market, while demanding a new “facilitated customs arrangement” under which, “as if in a combined customs territory with the EU, the U.K. would apply the EU’s tariffs and trade policy for goods intended for the EU. The U.K. would also apply its own tariffs and trade policy for goods intended for consumption in the U.K.”
