Angles (Dec 2021)
Britain’s post Brexit trade deals: Taking back control or a threat to sovereignty?
Abstract
In a speech given a few days after Britain officially left the European Union, Boris Johnson boasted about the merits of Brexit which, according to him, paved the way for Britain to take back control and lead a full free trade agenda, renewing ties with the Commonwealth and developing links with high-growth emerging economies. Similar rhetoric, which echoes late Victorian historians like Edward Freeman, was used by David Davis, Michael Gove, the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA) and the Adam Smith Institute to paint a positive image of Britain outside Europe. Yet, as Gammage and Syrpris (2020) underline, defining what taking back control or notions of sovereignty imply is not clear. Adhesion to the EU may be viewed as pooling sovereignty, so that control remains not only in the domestic sphere but also over international markets in which sovereign states trade. However, the debates surrounding Brexit have clearly revealed another conception of sovereignty, that of protecting a country’s interests above all other considerations. Brexiters contend that being part of the EU diminishes Britain’s absolute power and calls into question its sovereign power because it cedes a part to the supranational level. Brexit has thus been lauded as an opportunity to be free from the intensive infrastructure of the EU, its rules and enforced mechanisms. Yet Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) may also impinge on Britain’s sovereign powers. The ‘take back control’ rhetoric thus lacks a depth of understanding and knowledge of the actual impact of FTAs on sovereign states. This conceptual paper thus seeks to discuss, through extensive analysis of FTAs signed by the UK and/or in process, how the new landscape of comprehensive and progressive trade agreements may call into question notions of sovereignty. It will attempt to show how imperial nostalgia and Britain’s ambitions to take back control ignore the reality of FTAs in which public procurement, competition, ISDS and TRIPs-Plus clauses may well undermine attempts at regaining full sovereign control. The article draws on extensive secondary material: government documents, official speeches, and research papers.
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