The UK is now the worst hit country in Europe when it comes to COVID-19, and while the country is embroiled in the Dominic Cummings affair, the UK and EU negotiating teams are still at odds over fishing. However, despite longstanding opposition from London, Brussels is still open to an extension to the Brexit transition period, write Ros Taylor and Roch Dunin-Wąsowicz (LSE).
The prospects for a future trade deal are bleak, with talks on the level playing field approaching stalemate. But Brussels is still open to a 2-year extension – at least according to the EU negotiator Michel Barnier, who has said as much this week, invoking COVID-19 as the reason to avoid further imminent economic disruption.
Michel Barnier writes to opposition parties confirming the EU is open to extending Brexit transition phase by two years pic.twitter.com/NAUAZWiBmQ
— Paris Gourtsoyannis (@thistlejohn) May 27, 2020
According to the FT:
“Brexiters have never properly grasped that, for its erstwhile partners, the EU is as much a political as an economic enterprise. European integration is an investment in shared security, stability and democratic values, as well as a source of prosperity. These are not things they can give away in a trade deal with Britain.”
Hauliers have warned the UK is not hiring customs agents fast enough:
NEW/EXC. Back in real world. The UK is nowhere close to meeting the target for 50,000 customs agents it needs for #Brexit, and the govt. "misleading" about it – haulage, customs chiefs tell me. Stay with me briefly. It's mad. /1Threadhttps://t.co/e7VluYHlAq
— Peter Foster (@pmdfoster) May 26, 2020
The UK in a Changing Europe has published a report on how Brexit has changed, and will change, the UK Parliament, with contributions from Hilary Benn, Meg Russell, Tim Bales, Jill Rutter and others.
On LSE Brexit
You might expect the EU to account for a lower proportion of UK trade than it did in 2016. But this is not the case. The LSE’s Thomas Sampson crunches the numbers and says the Brexit trade shock is yet to come.
EU trade is just as important to the UK as it was in 2016. Why?
Katy Hayward explains why the British government continues to gaslight Northern Ireland when it comes to the issue of the borders.
The Protocol & lack of consent: the British government continues to gaslight Northern Ireland
Beyond Brexit: the €750bn package
What is actually occupying minds in Brussels and other EU27 capitals is the €750 billion crisis recovery package proposed by the Commission, which is heralded as the EU’s Hamiltonian moment. The LSE’s Iain Begg is enthusiastic: ‘The Franco-German proposal is imaginative and could be a game-changer.’
Best day of Brexit in ages, reminds me how much I’ve missed it
— Gabriel Roth (@gabrielroth) May 24, 2020
“Brexiters have never properly grasped that, for its erstwhile partners, the EU is as much a political as an economic enterprise. European integration is an investment in shared security, stability and democratic values, as well as a source of prosperity. These are not things they can give away in a trade deal with Britain.”
As usual, the rabidly pro-EU FT gets it spectacularly wrong.
It was the very political nature of the EU that drove millions to vote Leave in 2016. They hated being EU citizens against their will, and they hated the outpouring of EU legislation that controlled their lives without them (or their government) being able to do a thing about it.
There is nothing wrong in having shared values and a free trade arrangement among member states, but when the umbrella organisation starts making laws unrelated to trade, then people start to notice.
The EU model is not replicated anywhere else.
And what exactly is the EU being asked to ‘give away’?? It cannot possibly have any political say over a state that is no longer a member. It is simply being asked the reasonable request from the UK that the current terms of trade and security be continued, and it is the EU’s intransigence (that we witnessed ever since Article 50 was invoked) which is preventing this from happening.
Barnier constantly and publicly asked for ‘clarity’ during the ensuing discussions, but the UK could hardly have made its position more clear. It was leaving the EU and would be seeking a continuation of certain areas of co-operation.
“It is simply being asked the reasonable request from the UK that the current terms of trade and security be continued” How can this be reasonable? If a farmer or widget-maker in Romania wants to export to France, or vice-versa, both governments know they are protected from unfair competition by common standards, ultimately ruled on by the ECJ. If the UK doesn’t want any jurisdiction by the ECJ or the ability to conclude trade deals independently with other countries, that’s fine, but it can’t expect current terms of trade to continue as before. At the least the EU governments have the right to control what comes into the EU to protect their own citizens. “Take back control” cuts both ways.
the 750 billion is borrowed money on the international markets. it will have to be paid back with interest.
The Eu doesn’t actually create any wealth so its a fallacy stating its EU money, its EU taxpayers.
The EU has now indebted future generations of EU taxpayers for the bailout.
The Uk is out.
It wont be us footing the bill.
You can herald this as a victory all you like.
This is the nub of the problem – the Europhiles have indoctrinated themselves so thoroughly that they are now totally incapable of understanding the concept of national sovereignty and therefore attach no importance to it. They see nothing wrong in delaying it for another 2 years or even longer. This is why our government is right to insist that the deadline will not be changed.
I totally agree, negotiating a viable trade deal is indeed bleak in the current climate. My main concern is the possibility that the UK will “Go Bust” due to its extensive unprecedented borrowing in recent months.
The government has borrowed billions of pounds from the Bank Of England’s emergency overdraft along with other sources for the Covid crisis alone. There true impact of Covid 19 and Brexit costs may bankrupt the entire country and we could be faced with a situation like Greece.
It is more likely that the UK and other countries will all together, print out money to clear debts. The consequence could be extremely unbalancing for world economies.