The Observer view on trade relations: closer ties with EU is the lever for economic growth

We spoke to the Observer’s Sonia Sodha to contribute to her editorial on the UK - EU trading relationship.

Amid sluggish UK productivity and global insecurity, pulling closer to Europe is diplomatically and economically vital, she writes.

“As the Commission on UK-EU Relations argues, both the EU and the UK could benefit from closer cooperation in a range of areas, from defence, to climate, to higher education, to travel for work purposes. The UK could also benefit from joining the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Convention, which covers EU trade with countries such as Algeria, Morocco and Lebanon, and which would potentially increase the amount of goods UK companies could export to the EU tariff-free. Bespoke agreements in these areas might only have a marginal impact on GDP; but they would be a helpful signal of UK-EU willingness to cooperate and in doing so could be a bridge to the UK ultimately rejoining the single market and customs union.”

Read the full editorial in the Observer.