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The leader of the Liberal Democrats, Sir Ed Davey, has called on Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer to “fire the starting gun” on the creation of a UK-EU customs union in a meeting with European leaders in Brussels. Davey believes that it is a “no-brainer” for the prime minister since it would boost the UK economy and strengthen their hand with President Donald Trump of the United States. While Sir Keir has refused to rejoin the EU customs union and single market, which he has deemed to be a “red line,” Labour has left the possibility of joining another bloc open, namely the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean (PEM) convention to “reset” European relations.
The PEM convention enables tariff-free trade in some goods from a range of countries across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Sir Ed Davey has called for the UK to join the convention as a “first step” towards rejoining the UK-EU customs union, which allows tariff-free movement of goods but prohibits members from making their own trade deals. The Liberal Democrats have been campaigning on rejoining the European Union since the general election; however, their ultimate goal remains to achieve this.
Although Sir Keir’s meeting with EU leaders in Brussels aims to focus on defence and security cooperation, it marks the first time a British prime minister has been invited to such a gathering since the UK left the EU in 2020. Davey urges Chancellor Rachel Reeves to commission the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to examine the effects of the new customs agreement with the EU to ensure that the public’s forecasts are released in line with the Spring Statement. The forecasts on the subject must be publicised as part of the OBR’s estimates.
The Conservatives have expressed their opposition to joining the PEM convention, claiming that it would transform Britain into “rule-takers and not rule-makers.” Kemi Badenoch, the Tory party leader, has accused the government of “trying to reopen the divisions of the past and edge us back into the EU,” following their opposition to Brexit while the previous Conservative government was taking the UK out of the EU. She has also issued five tests for Sir Keir to meet, i.e., no backward steps on the free movement of people, no forced transfer of asylum seekers, no new payments to the EU, no reduction in fishing rights, and granting primacy to NATO when it comes to European safety
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