More alignment with the single market?
Senior figures within the EU are discussing the possibility of striking a new post-Brexit relationship with the UK under a Labour government. According to Mujtaba Rahman, managing director for Europe at the Eurasia Group, officials in Berlin and beyond hope to “make life easier” with the UK, seven years after the referendum. Rahman suggested the UK could align to the EU’s single market while remaining outside it, perhaps gaining “the right to be consulted and ‘have a say’ on the trajectory of new rules”, while avoiding some EU obligations. He added: “This would not be Norway, but something completely different – ‘a third way.’” Any “third way” would be fraught with challenges. The EU has repeatedly ruled out “cherry picking” and Labour’s leader Keir Starmer has ruled out any return to the single market. The debate remains toxic. But a new path could be opening up.
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