A lot of the media interest in matters European in recent weeks has focused on Andy Burnham’s project for a dialogue on future UK-EU relations. Thanks understandable as it not only raises some very big questions (possibly bigger than Burnham realises) but also because it plays to media values about what’s a good story.<\/p>\n
Cue a bunch of pieces with assorted Labour ministers<\/a> and MPs<\/a> about what they think should happen, even when we still have no idea about what the actual process for dialoguing might look like.<\/p>\n All very fun, but it’s important to remember that the EU has been very clear that any future discussions come after, firstly, full implementation of existing commitments and, secondly, conclusion of the Strategic Partnership negotiations currently underway. This is an explicit message<\/a> from the Commission and a sine qua non<\/em> for whatever comes out of the UK’s dialogue.<\/p>\n As far as those negotiations good, we are clearly on the path to a collection of agreements at the 20th November summit, marked both by the noises from negotiators<\/a> and by the extensive media briefings<\/a> in the EU about the wonderous effects that will flow from restoring pet passports for ferrets (and other things)<\/p>\n However, it’s also clear that central elements such as the SPS deal or the ETS linkage will take an extended period to reach full implementation, especially if the UK has pushed for any transitional arrangements. UK domestic legislation will need to be aligned to fit EU standards, training of civil servants and industry agents will have to be undertaken and mechanisms for ensuring continuing UK conformity will have to be stood up.<\/p>\n Such actions will be worth more to the EU as signals of UK intent, sincerity and good faith than the doubtless-copious warm words that will accompany the summit conclusions and will inform whatever comes next.<\/p>\n With that in mind, it will be very important to evaluate how the EU talks about current implementation and about how closely it will press the UK on the new round of implementation if we want to establish the baseline for talking about future cooperation.<\/p>\n Remember too that the Internal Energy Market talks will not be wrapped up this month, having only got underway in spring this year. That reflects delays on the part of the EU in agreeing its mandate, which in turn highlights that even the fairly minimal content of this extension of the TCA raises issues among member states that will be grit in the wheels of any more ambitious agendas.<\/p>\n On the UK side, we might also start to consider the distribution of views about EU relationship in the Cabinet, which will be the gatekeeper for both national policy and Labour party positions.<\/p>\n With most ministers keeping their counsel, in line with Burnham’s request not to pre-judge matters, this has mostly been a case of off-the-record briefings or (more commonly) searching through public comments from earlier times.<\/p>\n The table below is my working summary (and happy to be corrected on any mistakes). Pretty much everyone seems willing to have some kind of debate, but there’s a pretty even split from senior ministers down between those who seem to want to press policy towards considerably deeper relations (usually full accession) and those who think this is either a distraction from other issues or something that is a huge can of worms, having been discussed and settled in 2016.<\/p>\n Of course, it’s possible to hold all those views simultaneously, and the passive discontent with the status quo is going to be a major factor in coming discussions. The challenge is that agreeing on disliking how things are right now doesn’t automatically mean agreeing on what to do instead. Even if there isn’t quite the situation with the Windsor Framework – no one likes it much, but all alternatives are disliked by someone very much more – then it will be a matter of whether anyone can build a new discursive approach to allow people to move on to somewhere new.<\/p>\n A lot of the media interest in matters European in recent weeks has focused on Andy Burnham’s project for a dialogue on future UK-EU relations. Thanks understandable as it not only raises some very big questions (possibly bigger than Burnham … Continue reading \n\n
\n Name<\/strong><\/td>\n Role<\/strong><\/td>\n Preferred Outcome<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Andy Burnham<\/td>\n Prime Minister<\/td>\n +<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Louise Haigh<\/td>\n First Secretary of State<\/td>\n –<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n John Healey<\/td>\n Chancellor<\/td>\n –<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Ed Miliband<\/td>\n Foreign Secretary<\/td>\n +<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Shabana Mahmood<\/td>\n Home Secretary<\/td>\n –<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Wes Streeting<\/td>\n Defence<\/td>\n +<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Yvette Cooper<\/td>\n Health and Social Care<\/td>\n –<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Alex Norris<\/td>\n Justice<\/td>\n –<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Lucy Powell<\/td>\n Education<\/td>\n –<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Pat McFadden<\/td>\n Work and Pensions<\/td>\n +<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Jonathan Reynolds<\/td>\n Business, Innovation, Science and Trade<\/td>\n –<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Angela Rayner<\/td>\n Housing, Communities and Local Government<\/td>\n +<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Heidi Alexander<\/td>\n Transport<\/td>\n –<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Miatta Fahnbulleh<\/td>\n Energy Security and Net Zero<\/td>\n +<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Lisa Nandy<\/td>\n Digital, Culture, Media and Sport<\/td>\n –<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Angela Eagle<\/td>\n Environment, Food and Rural Affairs<\/td>\n +<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Chris Bryant<\/td>\n Northern Ireland<\/td>\n +<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Douglas Alexander<\/td>\n Scotland<\/td>\n +<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Stephen Kinnock<\/td>\n Wales<\/td>\n +<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Annelisse Midgley<\/td>\n Chief Whip<\/td>\n –<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Baroness Smith<\/td>\n Leader of the House of Lords<\/td>\n +<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Alan Campbell<\/td>\n Leader of the House of Commons<\/td>\n +<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Bridget Phillipson<\/td>\n Women and Equalities<\/td>\n +<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Attending<\/em><\/td>\n <\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Emma Reynolds<\/em><\/td>\n Chief Secretary<\/em><\/td>\n +<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Ellie Reeves<\/em><\/td>\n Attorney General<\/em><\/td>\n +<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Hamish Falconer<\/em><\/td>\n Minister of State (Intergovernmental Relations and European Relations)<\/em><\/td>\n +<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Kanishka Narayan<\/em><\/td>\n Minister of State (Artificial Intelligence)<\/em><\/td>\n –<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n Matthew Pennycook<\/em><\/td>\n Minister of State (Housing and Planning)<\/em><\/td>\n –<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"