Four principles for the UK’s Brexit trade negotiations

The meaning of Brexit is yet to become clear. But if Brexit implies leaving the customs union of the European Union, Thomas Sampson looks at what it might mean for the UK to pursue its own trade policy for the first time since joining the European Community in 1973.

Trade negotiations are a bargain between countries with competing objectives. Each country must give up something it values in order to obtain concessions from other countries. The realisation that negotiations are a bargaining process between countries with conflicting goals suggests four principles the UK should adopt to guide its trade negotiation strategy:

1. You get what you give
2. Where negotiations start from matters
3. Bargain from a position of power
4. Invest in negotiating capacity

ESO: In Focus: Brexit - The United Kingdom and the European Union http://www.europeansources.info/record/brexit-the-united-kingdom-and-the-european-union/

ESO: Background information: Why the UK can’t just pick and choose from the EU menu after Brexit http://www.europeansources.info/record/why-the-uk-cant-just-pick-and-choose-from-the-eu-menu-after-brexit/

CEP: Brexit Paper 9, October 2016: Four principles for the UK's Brexit trade negotiations http://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/brexit09.pdf

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