Brussels will have the power to punish the UK at will during the Brexit transition period by closing off parts of the single market to British companies, according to a leaked legal document drawn up by the EU.
Theresa May has been told “she must allow Brussels to slap tariffs on UK goods, ground flights and suspend single market access if Britain breaks the terms of the Brexit deal during the transition period”.
The 27 remaining member states want to be able to act against the UK without having to go through the potentially lengthy process of bringing cases to the European court of Justice, should Brussels come to the judgment that Britain has infringed EU law.
The use of focused sanctions to “suspend certain benefits of the internal market”, would give the EU the freedom to punish the UK without prematurely terminating the transition period and risking damage to its economic interests.
Sanctions the EU could feasibly impose include tariffs on goods, the enforcement of customs checks or the suspension of the single air aviation agreement, which gives UK carriers the right to fly between Britain and the continent.
Theresa May’s apparent acceptance of most of the EU’s demands has already prompted accusations from the Tory MP Jacob Rees-Mogg that the UK will be a “vassal state”.
The development will inevitably increase pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May who has been criticised for being too accommodating to EU demands.
As it stands during the 21 month transition period the UK will effectively stay in the single market and customs union without any say on new regulations.
The EU’s leaked position paper, entitled Transitional Arrangements in the Withdrawal Agreement, lays out in legal language the EU’s terms for the transition period, including its insistence that British officials and politicians will play no role in decision making institutions after 29 March 2019.
>Juthy Saha
EU to Get Power to Punish UK During Brexit Transition
