Welsh Government publishes priorities for forthcoming EU negotiations

Rejects future based on a low-wage, low job security, low regulation economic model, which would lead to growing inequality.

The Welsh Government today published its assessment of the UK Government’s Political Declaration, which accompanies the Withdrawal Agreement Bill, and its priorities for our future trade, and broader relationship with the EU.

The assessment argues that, while the Welsh Government accepts that we will now leave the EU, changes to the direction of travel indicated in the Political Declaration are necessary to better protect the economic, social and environmental interests of Wales and the whole UK.

Counsel General and Brexit Minister Jeremy Miles said:

“The UK Government will soon begin negotiations with the EU on a permanent long-term agreement. This agreement is of vital importance to Wales.  It will determine the basis of our future trade, and our broader relationship with the EU, for decades to come. The stakes could not be higher.

“The evidence is clear that the further the UK moves away from economic integration with the EU the greater the economic damage. The EU has been and will continue to be our most important trading partner and many businesses depend on integrated supply chains across the EU, which require frictionless trade. 

“Given the overwhelming importance of the EU to our economy the UK must prioritise continued barrier-free access to these markets over trade arrangements with other countries. 

“We will continue to challenge an approach to the negotiations which prioritises the ‘freedom’ of the UK to diverge from EU regulatory standards above the well-being of the people of Wales. Such an approach would be deeply flawed and could result in lost jobs and lost investment in Wales. We need an agreement with the EU which reflects the interests of Wales and the United Kingdom

“The UK Government claims it wants to maintain high standards and we will hold them to their word. We will therefore oppose any agenda of deregulation, which will damage consumers’ interests in the long run.

 “We reject a vision of Britain where the economy is based on a low-wage, low job security, low regulation model, which would lead to growing inequality. We need a strong, innovative outward-looking UK economy underpinned by mutual respect for the responsibilities of all governments of the Union.”

 The Counsel General also stressed that the Welsh Government, like many other observers and the EU negotiators themselves did not believe it possible to achieve the right agreement in only a few months of negotiations. He said: “We will continue to argue that the UK Government should not close the door on an extension beyond the arbitrary deadline of December 2020. The priority must be achieving the best deal, not the quickest one”.