Regulatory Alignment with EU

• Beneficial alignment  outside of the Single Market and Customs Union would boost UK economic growth by increasing business certainty, removing barriers to trade and reducing costs.
• It would be achieved through a new ‘UK-EU Regulatory Cooperation Council’
• It would mean that the UK maintains the high standards we had as EU members while retaining the flexibility to diverge where there is a clear and tangible benefit.

Reactive

• Rule taker: Trading with any country means meeting certain standards. It makes sense to align with the standards of our largest market, which are also among the highest standards in the world, to reduce costs and increase certainty for businesses. This will boost the economy and create jobs.
• Further: Ironically, we had a huge say in setting these standards before Brexit. Beneficial alignment is inferior to what we had before Brexit but is much better than this shambolic deal which is strangling businesses with costly red tape and labour shortages. 

Previous lines: 

Paul Drechsler: “Less friction means more trade and so it’s just common sense to start from a point of beneficial alignment. Our aim should be common rules and high standards for global trade to increase certainty and reduce costs, while providing the public with democratic accountability by giving the UK Parliament and devolved administrations a meaningful role in scrutinising and approving trade policy.”

Peter Norris: “Leaving the single market has already increased costs for businesses and consumers, and further divergence will only hike prices further during a cost of living crisis. As recommended by our commission, aligning with high EU standards and protections where beneficial is not only good for UK businesses, but for consumers, workers and the environment too.”