Barnier warns against key parts of May’s Brexit trade deal

The EU's chief Brexit negotiator has warned that Theresa May's Brexit proposal would give Britain an unfair competitive advantage and could spell the end of the single market and the European project.

In his clearest public rejection of the proposal, Michel Barnier said it would amount to unacceptable cherry-picking and that Britain must instead choose between a free trade agreement with the EU such as Canada's and a fully integrated relationship like Norway's.

"They could stay in the single market, like Norway, which is also not a member of the EU – but they would then have to take over all the associated rules and contributions to European solidarity. It is your choice. But if we let the British pick the raisins out of our rules, that would have serious consequences. Then all sorts of other third countries could insist that we offer them the same benefits. That would be the end of the single market and the European project," he told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung.

Mr Barnier’s remarks came as Ms May came under renewed pressure from within her Conservative Party to reject her Chequers proposal, which would keep Britain in the European single market for goods and agricultural products but not for services.

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The prime minister's policy has failed. The country deserves a better Brexit – one that avoids the humiliation of a deal dictated by Brussels

Former Brexit secretary David Davis said on Sunday that he would vote against such a deal in the House of Commons, which he described as almost worse than being in the EU. Nick Boles, a backbencher closely allied to environment secretary Michael Gove, said the prime minister should abandon Chequers and instead seek to remain temporarily in the European Economic Area (EEA) like Norway.

‘A better Brexit’

"The prime minister's policy has failed. The country deserves a better Brexit – one that avoids the humiliation of a deal dictated by Brussels and the chaos of crashing out of the EU with no deal. By staying in the European Economic Area for an interim period and negotiating a Canada-style free trade agreement from a position of strength, we can leave the European Union in a way that preserves our prosperity and unites the country," Mr Boles said.

Mr Barnier’s public rejection of the Chequers plan follows two months during which Britain sought support for it in European capitals, and the 27 remaining EU governments have had an opportunity to consider it.

We are just looking for a practical solution which suits the particular situation of the island of Ireland

Their response has been overwhelmingly negative, according to senior EU sources, chiefly because of the potential competitive advantage it could offer Britain.

Mr Barnier said there was still time to reach a deal on the withdrawal agreement and a political declaration on Britain's future relationship with the EU, which he suggested could be 15-20 pages long. He insisted that the EU had no intention of undermining the constitutional order of the UK through the Border backstop or creating a barrier between Northern Ireland and Great Britain.

"There can be no question of a hard border in the Irish Sea, we have never proposed such a thing. We of course respect the unity of the United Kingdom. We are just looking for a practical solution which suits the particular situation of the island of Ireland. There are already certain checks in Belfast, particularly veterinary and pesticide controls for goods and animals that are brought into Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK. That's what we're talking about, nothing more," he said.