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Chequers plan
The Chequers plan, officially known as The future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union (Cm 9593), was a UK Government white paper concerning Brexit, published on 12 July 2018 by the prime minister, Theresa May. The paper was based on a three-page cabinet agreement from 6 July 2018 and laid out the type of future relationship between the UK and the European Union (EU) that the UK sought to achieve in the Brexit negotiations. At the time it was anticipated that the United Kingdom would leave the European Union on 29 March 2019.
In July 2018, former Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union (Brexit Secretary), Dominic Raab, described it as a "detailed proposal for a principled, pragmatic and ambitious future partnership between the UK and the EU". He also stated that "the white paper proposes a free trade area for goods to maintain frictionless trade, supported by a common rulebook and a new facilitated customs arrangement, but only for the rules that are necessary to provide frictionless trade at the border."
The white paper was finalised at a meeting of the UK Cabinet held at Chequers on 6 July 2018. Brexit Secretary David Davis and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson resigned in opposition to the plan. The plan was rejected by the EU in September 2018.
The white paper was divided into four chapters: economic partnership, security, cooperation and institutional arrangements.
The plan aimed to hold the UK in a close relationship with the EU, stating that the new relationship be "broader in scope than any other that exists between the EU and a third country". This would be done by establishing a new association agreement.
Continued access to the European single market for goods and a common rulebook on state aid would be agreed, preventing either side from subsidising their own industries. For its part, the UK would commit to maintaining high environmental, climate change, social, employment and consumer protection standards.
When presenting the plan, May addressed the Irish border question, stating that there would be no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, and no border in the UK". A "facilitated customs agreement" would remove the need for customs checks by treating the UK and EU "as if a combined customs territory". The UK would apply the EU's tariffs and trade policy on goods intended for the bloc but would control its own tariffs and trade for the domestic market. This differed from a "Canada-plus" deal favoured by the Conservative backbench European Research Group, which would not apply EU tariffs on goods bound for the EU and therefore may threaten such tariffs if countries use lower tariffs in the UK to facilitate tariff-free access with EU countries, undermining EU tariffs; however, it was seen as likely that such a scenario would require a hard border on the island of Ireland as technological solutions to the Irish border questions are not yet available.
The proposals gained minimal support from Conservative politicians or leaders of EU member states. In the summer of 2018, May met German Chancellor Angela Merkel as well as French President Emmanuel Macron in order to garner support for the proposals from her French and German counterparts.
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Chequers plan
The Chequers plan, officially known as The future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union (Cm 9593), was a UK Government white paper concerning Brexit, published on 12 July 2018 by the prime minister, Theresa May. The paper was based on a three-page cabinet agreement from 6 July 2018 and laid out the type of future relationship between the UK and the European Union (EU) that the UK sought to achieve in the Brexit negotiations. At the time it was anticipated that the United Kingdom would leave the European Union on 29 March 2019.
In July 2018, former Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union (Brexit Secretary), Dominic Raab, described it as a "detailed proposal for a principled, pragmatic and ambitious future partnership between the UK and the EU". He also stated that "the white paper proposes a free trade area for goods to maintain frictionless trade, supported by a common rulebook and a new facilitated customs arrangement, but only for the rules that are necessary to provide frictionless trade at the border."
The white paper was finalised at a meeting of the UK Cabinet held at Chequers on 6 July 2018. Brexit Secretary David Davis and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson resigned in opposition to the plan. The plan was rejected by the EU in September 2018.
The white paper was divided into four chapters: economic partnership, security, cooperation and institutional arrangements.
The plan aimed to hold the UK in a close relationship with the EU, stating that the new relationship be "broader in scope than any other that exists between the EU and a third country". This would be done by establishing a new association agreement.
Continued access to the European single market for goods and a common rulebook on state aid would be agreed, preventing either side from subsidising their own industries. For its part, the UK would commit to maintaining high environmental, climate change, social, employment and consumer protection standards.
When presenting the plan, May addressed the Irish border question, stating that there would be no hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, and no border in the UK". A "facilitated customs agreement" would remove the need for customs checks by treating the UK and EU "as if a combined customs territory". The UK would apply the EU's tariffs and trade policy on goods intended for the bloc but would control its own tariffs and trade for the domestic market. This differed from a "Canada-plus" deal favoured by the Conservative backbench European Research Group, which would not apply EU tariffs on goods bound for the EU and therefore may threaten such tariffs if countries use lower tariffs in the UK to facilitate tariff-free access with EU countries, undermining EU tariffs; however, it was seen as likely that such a scenario would require a hard border on the island of Ireland as technological solutions to the Irish border questions are not yet available.
The proposals gained minimal support from Conservative politicians or leaders of EU member states. In the summer of 2018, May met German Chancellor Angela Merkel as well as French President Emmanuel Macron in order to garner support for the proposals from her French and German counterparts.