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Ros Taylor

Roch Dunin-Wąsowicz

May 29th, 2020

Brussels still open to an extension: 29 May Brexit update

5 comments | 5 shares

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Ros Taylor

Roch Dunin-Wąsowicz

May 29th, 2020

Brussels still open to an extension: 29 May Brexit update

5 comments | 5 shares

Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

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).

Image by Robert Scarth, Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic.

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.

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:

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.’

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About the author

Ros Taylor

Ros Taylor is co-editor of LSE Brexit.

Roch Dunin-Wąsowicz

Roch Dunin-Wąsowicz (@RochDW) is a Research Officer at LSE IDEAS and Research Director at the 89 Initiative London. He lectures Sociology at the UCL Social Research Institute.

Posted In: #LSEThinks | Featured

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