Oral Answers to Questions

Mike Amesbury Excerpts

Thursday 1st February 2018 Commons Chamber

[Mr Alister Jack (Dumfries and Galloway) (Con)]

1. If he will make an assessment of the potential merits of seeking regulatory equivalence with the EU.

[Mike Amesbury (Weaver Vale) (Lab)]

18. What comparative assessment he has made of the potential merits of regulatory (a) alignment with and (b) divergence from the EU.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union (Mr Robin Walker)]

We are fully focused on making the UK’s exit from the EU and our new trading relationship with the world a success. We have set out proposals for an ambitious future relationship with the EU that minimises regulatory barriers for goods and services. Our partnership should be underpinned by high standards, a practical approach to regulation, trust in one another’s institutions and a shared spirit of co-operation.

[Mr Walker]

Regulatory equivalence is about pursuing the same objectives, and as the Prime Minister outlined in her Florence speech, that could mean achieving the same goals by the same means or achieving the same goals by different means. It does not mean that we have to harmonise our rules with those of the EU. It is not a binary choice; we are proposing a bespoke, bold and ambitious free trade agreement between the UK and the EU, and we want to secure trade with Europe and with the wider world.

[Mike Amesbury]

By more than 2:1, members of the Institute of Directors would prefer the UK to maintain regulatory alignment with the single market rules for goods and services, rather than actively seeking to diverge after Brexit. Is that the Government’s aim as well?