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UK business secretary Peter Kyle has urged the EU to stop “putting up barriers” with its allies, as he attempts to secure British access to the bloc’s “Made in Europe” initiative.
Almost 10 years after Britain erected trade barriers with the EU with its Brexit vote, Kyle travelled to Brussels on Wednesday to plead with bloc leaders to work with London on boosting the continent’s industrial base.
Kyle has become increasingly frustrated with Brussels over its approach to new rules that will stipulate that industrial products benefiting from public subsidies should be “Made in Europe”.
“We have to get to a point amongst western allied countries where we’re not putting up barriers to societal and economic development amongst ourselves,” Kyle told journalists on Wednesday.
He added that Britain had well-developed expertise in fast-growing technologies such as AI, climate technologies and life sciences.
Kyle made a point of emphasising that London and Brussels faced shared challenges, including the security and resilience of their supply chains and the need for greater sovereignty to break the west’s reliance on China.
The UK was not asking “to rejoin the customs union or single market” as part of its “Made in Europe” push, he said.
The EU’s rules, which will set thresholds for the amount of EU-made content in products benefiting from taxpayer money, have divided the bloc.
Free-trading countries such as Sweden and the Netherlands stand opposed to countries including France, which believe that the bloc’s heavy industries need greater protection.
The initiative has also caused tensions with some EU industries and with the bloc’s trading partners. Japan has also launched a diplomatic lobbying campaign to try to ensure it is included in the “Made in Europe” rules.
The proposals have been delayed three times and should now be presented next week.
Kyle is said by colleagues in London to be putting his “heart and soul” into making sure Britain is part of any “Made in Europe” scheme. They said he had made some progress in talks with EU figures in recent weeks.
But there is growing frustration in London that British ministers are spending so much time trying to prevent western allies from imposing new barriers to trade and growth, whether the EU or the US.
“We’re back from the cliff edge,” said one ally of Kyle, referring to talks on the “Made in Europe” scheme. “Certainly there is more time and space for proper considered conversations on this.
“But it’s a shame we’re having to put so much energy into mitigating problems from allied countries at the moment. This should be about opportunities.”
EU officials have underlined that the rules around the scheme are still being discussed internally.
Teresa Ribera, European Commission executive vice-president, told a press conference with Kyle that the Commission should be allowed “to come up with a final draft”.
But she added: “It is always good to identify on what we can work together and to ensure that this friendship can be built and strengthened.”
Additional reporting by Paola Tamma in Brussels