Economics
EU Says It Won’t Ease Customs Controls on U.K. After Brexit
- EU ambassador says it will be ‘systematic’ in defending market
- U.K. has given six-month grace period on EU imports from 2021
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The European Union will impose full customs controls and checks on goods from the U.K. from 2021, declining to reciprocate London’s plan to offer traders a six-month grace period.
“You can count on us to be forcible and systematic in implementing the deal, and in doing so certainly protecting the single market,” Joao Vale de Almeida, the EU’s ambassador to the U.K., said on a Chatham House webinar on Thursday, when asked if the bloc would mirror Britain’s stance. “We took note of the British decision, but we are not at the point in time where we either need or wish to take decisions on our side.”