The UK continues to push for “second phase” negotiations on trade

A spokeswoman for British Prime Minister Theresa May expressed her confidence that the UK will be able to negotiate its future trade partnership with the UK from October onwards.

The government is apparently confident that a number of disputes surrounding the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) will be resolved.

ECJ jurisdiction has become an issue at the first stage of negotiations when it comes to negotiating the border between the UK and the Republic of Ireland as well as EU and UK immigration rights. Later this week the UK will publish a key position paper on how it expects to address issues of enforcement and dispute resolution after March 2019.

The clock is ticking.

The October milestone is signaled by the European Council, which the British government hopes should be able to consolidate a number of compromises achieved during negotiations with the European Commission in the following weeks.

Meanwhile, the UK government released on Monday two more position papers on its views over the Brexit negotiation.

The first position paper puts forward a vision of continued trade in goods and services without additional restrictions. Significantly, goods are bundled with services, which is the UK’s key export to the Single Market. The argument is that goods and services already sold should continue on the same terms after March 2019.

The second position paper focuses on confidentiality and access to documents between the UK and EU member states.

Brexit minister David Davis expressed the hope that these position papers will "drive the talks forward” to the next stage of talks, that is, trade negotiations.

The position paper on goods and services touches upon a subject that EU negotiators have clearly classified as belonging to the "second round” of negotiations. On Sunday, it became clear that Dublin agrees with the British government that the negotiation of the Irish border overlaps with the negotiation over customs.

On Monday the European Commission spokesman Alexander Winterstein said the UK’s position papers will not affect the sequencing of the negotiations as set out by Michel Barnier and approved by the other 27 EU member states, the BBC reports.

The Confederation of British Industry hailed the UK’s proposal but still believes it is necessary for the two parties to come to an interim agreement. That is a sore point for the British government that wants a free hand in negotiating trade deals with the rest of the world as soon as March 2019.

However, the director of campaigns at the CBI John Foster has made clear that the British industry prefers the UK "to stay in the single market and a customs union until a comprehensive new deal is in force.” That is something the British government rejects.