The government should avoid drawing red lines but should set out clear objectives ahead of the next phase of Brexit negotiations, a thinktank report has advised.
The UK must use the Art 50 extension to focus on its long-term relationship with the EU, according to the Institute for Government report, Negotiating Brexit: Preparing for talks on the UK’s future relationship with the EU, published this week.
Tim Durrant, lead author, said: ‘Negotiations on our future relationship with the EU will be much more complex than the divorce.
‘They will also set the context for the UK’s relationship with other countries for decades to come. It is vital that the government uses the next months to develop a better understanding of how the EU will approach the next phase.’
The report looks at what went right and what went wrong in negotiations so far, concluding that the main problems were political: Cabinet could not agree on the shape of the future economic relationship, and politicians, particularly on the government backbenches, did not trust the UK’s official negotiators.
It describes the decision to create a dedicated Brexit department, DExEU, ‘misguided’ as it caused tensions with No10. Moreover, the government engaged Parliament late, alienated the devolved governments, and failed to make use of external expertise. Meanwhile, its ‘divide and rule’ diplomatic strategy meant member states rallied behind the European Commission negotiators.
For the next phase of negotiations, the institute recommends that the prime minister appoint a ministerial deputy in the Cabinet Office to oversee the day-to-day negotiations, taking that role away from DExEU. It suggests the government make better use of the Department for International Trade, engage Parliament and the devolved administrations early and consistently, allow more outside input into its plans, and rethink its approach to engaging member states.
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