Relying on appeasement
The not very unexpected news that the British government is pushing the grace periods for checks in the Irish sea into the far future is what the Mandarins in Yes Minister used to call “a brave decision.”
The laughable claim that the UK is doing this as continual deadlines are not helpful in talks fools nobody. The UK is trying to squirm out of the obligations and responsibilities that it signed up for, something it probably always meant to do.
The EU and its member states have been patient and will continue to be patient, but while the UK government is busy laughing behind its hand at how its cunning ploy has worked yet again, it is storing up a heap of trouble.
It is dependent on the willingness of others to appease it, this is not a position of power but of weakness. The other side holds all the cards and has all the power, it can call the UK government’s bluff any time it chooses.
Red tape at Dover and elsewhere costs British industry £7 billion a year already. When the EU decides it has had enough it can and will increase the delays and tests, tighten the rules, impose tariffs and go through the paperwork with a fine tooth comb.
It will also win in any court case and impose fines on the UK, which will have to pay huge amounts and promise to be a good boy in future.
The EC and the EU’s members know all this, that is why they can wait.
Economics, trade and Brexit, not necessarily in that order but the dog always comes first.