Here in England Brexit is all that we talk about, we no longer talk about the weather, we don’t even talk about queuing – it’s always Brexit. Hard Brexit, Soft Brexit, Sunny-side up Brexit. We have our left arm in and our right arm out and we do the hoke-koke Brexit. It’s all we have to discuss but The Netherlands need not worry.
The Dutch amount for over 3% of the UK’s GDP (the monetary value of all the finished goods and services produced within a country’s borders). The Netherlands is one of our biggest trading partners and I’m not just talking £22billon worth of cheese each year.
Our two countries trade in petrol, computer software, tulips, cheese. We buy each other’s cars, medical equipment and medical products. One might argue that we trade the most important things (cheese and flowers!) between our two great nations.
This will not stop when Britain leaves the Governance of the European Union. We will still want to trade and we will trade more. We will trade more freely and more competitively and in a new deal where both of us have a say on what works best rather than having to conform to something that might not work for us. We want bespoke deals that work for both countries and we can make these deals lucrative and long-lasting.
The future of the Netherlands and the UK
At their most recent meeting, when Mr Rutte arrived by bicycle, the future of our two countries was the hot topic over a cheese croissant and a black coffee. We have a huge wealth of history interlocked across the sea and between our ports. This new future that lies ahead will only serve to add to that rich relationship we all want to continue.
D66 have sent us a message and we hear it loud and clear.We love you too Holland.
If you are willing to play we are happy to share our ball – the only difference being we can decide the rules that work for ourselves together and not be dictated to from somebody else.
De stemming over #Brexit is uitgesteld. @KeesVee belde daarom opnieuw aan bij Theresa May, met een duidelijke boodschap: kies voor deze deal of blijf in de EU.
Geïnspireerd op misschien wel de meest romantische Kerstfilm aller tijden. ? #loveactually #makelovedontbrexit pic.twitter.com/T9EhbWatjp
— D66 (@D66) December 11, 2018
“We will trade more freely and more competitively and in a new deal where both of us have a say on what works best rather than having to conform to something that might not work for us”…. Not true.
1. Not more freely – the UK will become a non-EU country and thus the free movement of goods and services will cease. What will replace it will be the need for customs declarations for everything that goes across the border. See for example – https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/dec/11/dover-checks-would-take-eight-hours-per-lorry-in-no-deal-brexit
2. Not more competitively – in the case of a no-deal Brexit, WTO tariffs will apply to goods and services that are traded between the two countries and this will increase cost and thus reduce competitiveness.
3. The Netherlands does not strike trade deals, and nor does any other EU country. Trades deals are made by the European Union.
“We want bespoke deals that work for both countries”
“we can decide the rules that work for ourselves together and not be dictated to from somebody else”
4. As previous, this is not possible since the Netherlands does not create bespoke trading arrangements with other countries. As with every other EU country, trade deals are made by the EU.
This article is clearly badly researched and presents a completely false perspective on the impact of Brexit on the trading relationship between the UK and the Netherlands.