The Chequers Agreement: What Is It and What Does It Mean for Brexit?

The Chequers Agreement is a proposal put forward by the UK Government in July 2018 as a way to negotiate the terms of Brexit with the European Union (EU). Named after the prime minister’s country residence where the cabinet meets, the agreement aims to strike a balance between preserving a close relationship with the EU while respecting the result of the 2016 referendum in which the majority voted to leave the bloc.

Under the Chequers plan, the UK would maintain a free trade area with the EU for goods, with a common rulebook to ensure regulatory alignment and avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland. However, the UK would diverge from the EU on services, agriculture, and some aspects of trade policy. The proposal also includes a new customs arrangement, known as a facilitated customs arrangement, that would allow the UK to collect tariffs on behalf of the EU for goods destined for the bloc, while setting its own tariffs for goods coming into the UK.

The Chequers Agreement has been met with mixed reactions from both sides of the Brexit debate. Some argue that it represents a pragmatic compromise that can secure a soft Brexit with continued access to the EU market, while others see it as a betrayal of the Leave vote and a capitulation to the EU’s demands. Several senior members of the UK Government, including the Brexit Secretary David Davis and the Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, resigned in protest against the plan, which they saw as too soft and too closely aligned with the EU.

The EU also expressed skepticism about the Chequers Agreement as it did not address some of the key issues in the negotiations, such as the future relationship between the UK and the EU on security, foreign policy, and data protection. The EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier stated that the proposal was useful as a basis for further discussion but fell short of the EU’s requirements for a comprehensive partnership.

The Chequers Agreement remained the UK Government’s official position until late 2018 when it was replaced by another proposal known as the Withdrawal Agreement, which included a revised version of the facilitated customs arrangement and other measures to address the Irish border issue. However, the Withdrawal Agreement was rejected three times by the UK Parliament, leading to a political crisis and the eventual resignation of Prime Minister Theresa May.

As of 2021, the UK has left the EU and is in a transition period until the end of the year while negotiations continue on a future trade deal. The outcome of these talks remains uncertain, but the Chequers Agreement remains a significant milestone in the Brexit process and a marker of the UK’s approach to negotiating with the EU.