22 November 2018

Quartz: Post-Brexit Britain might look more like Ukraine than Norway

A country that conjures images of its ongoing conflict with Russia, Ukraine might not sound like somewhere that the UK wants to copy. Yet the style of Ukraine’s relationship with the EU is one that aligns with the prime minister’s objectives, as outlined in her white paper. While many of these did not make their way into the Withdrawal Agreement, they could still form part of the future trade agreement that the UK is yet to work out with the EU. [...]

Ukraine, like Canada, has a deep and comprehensive free trade agreement with the EU (DCFTA). This gives it preferential access to the EU’s 500m strong consumer market. The Ukraine-EU agreement eliminates more than 98% of trade duties for both parties. [...]

There is visa-free travel between Ukraine and most EU member states but no right of free movement of people, which limits migration from Ukrainian citizens. They are allowed to travel for up to 90 days in a 180-day period for tourism, business purposes, and to visit friends and relatives. Something similar would help the UK to achieve one of its main objectives of “controlling its borders.”

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