Theresa May said on Wednesday in a guest column for the German daily newspaper Die Welt that with "goodwill and determination on both sides," Britain and the UK "can avoid a disorderly exit and find new ways of working together.”
“To come to a successful conclusion, just as the UK has evolved its position, the EU will need to do the same” wrote May, saying that "neither side can demand the unacceptable of the other, such as an external customs border between different parts of the United Kingdom – which no other country would accept if they were in the same situation."
To avoid a hard border, she said that Ireland needed the "frictionless movement" of goods, adding that this was not the same thing as partial participation in the Single Market. "British companies would not enjoy the same legal rights, for example," she suggested.
May also answered one of the most vivid criticisms towards her approach to Brexit, that it is impossible to separate the goods and services market as May’s plans suggested before. The British PM noted that no free trade agreement that the EU has ever concluded treats goods and services equally, and that the most relevant services for goods aren’t regulated by the EU anyway.
The new proposals, she suggested, would allow “frictionless movement” for goods and agricultural products in a free trade area which would create a business-friendly customs arrangement for both the EU and UK which would allow for the avoidance of the the need for customs and regulatory checks at their shared borders.
READ MORE: European Council Chief Warns No Deal Brexit 'Quite Possible'
The next round of Brexit negotiations are slated to be conducted on Wednesday and Thursday in Salzburg, Austria. UK Brexit minister Dominic Raab called these two days an "important milestone" in talks. EU's Brexit chief negotiator Michel Barnier said on Tuesday that the bloc was ready to improve its proposal for an "insurance policy" backstop arrangement on how to manage the Irish border after Brexit.
