Joël Reland

Inserted 2 years ago

“The main message is that the UK has been talking a big game on divergence. Frost has spoken repeatedly about the long dark years of EU membership and the need for change to free up growth and innovation but it has just not been followed through. If you look at the most significant policy changes in the budget or the net zero strategy there is very little that could not have been done inside the EU. In agriculture, city regulation, and areas such as green taxation and fintech, new ideas and progress on divergence are evident but in big areas such VAT little or nothing has happened. There is no joined up thinking on divergence strategy across government. The reason is that while replacing all EU regulation sounds neat, in practice it is complex and costly for business. I think the UK is finding that it is really difficult to develop and there is more bureaucracy rather than less once you try to change everything. The cost of getting all UK companies stamped with a UK mark rather than an EU mark … it is not worth the cost.”

Theguardian

Researcher at the independent thinktank UK in a Changing Europe