EU trade chief says PM must decide if UK joins European customs deal

The EU's new trade chief has said the bloc could consider including the UK in a pan-European trade agreement, but emphasised that "the ball is in the UK's court".

- Kalyeena Makortoff Eleni Courea Heather Stewart Davos

While the UK's Labour government has ruled out returning to the single market and customs union after Brexit, the possibility of joining a continent-wide deal could open the door to closer cooperation with the EU and bolster much-needed economic growth.

Maroš Šefčovič, who led post-Brexit negotiations for the EU, told the BBC that allowing the UK to join the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Convention (PEM) was "something we could consider".

The PEM is a 2012 agreement that allows goods to move tariff-free across borders. Members include the EU, as well as some north African countries, Switzerland, Norway, Georgia and Ukraine.

Some businesses have supported the UK joining, saying it could help their complex supply chains, cut red tape and improve trade.

The UK's food and farming industry could benefit from such a move. Šefčovič, attending the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland, said: "We would have to have the same rules and we have to upgrade them at the same time. We call it dynamic alignment."