Brexit January 2020

[admin]

Brexit will soon have cost the UK more than all of its payments to the EU over the last 47 years put together
Irish society would struggle to contain a decade of centenaries marking significant events that occurred between 1912 and 1923 including the suffrage movement, the 1913 Lockout, the Easter Rising of 1916, the Irish war of independence, the Irish civil war and the foundation of the Irish Free State, was appeased somewhat by the successful commemorations that took place throughout 2016.

[owenmarsden]

Wall Street’s London Outposts Are Braced for Brexit

Wall Street titans have come to dominate London finance. Now they have the most at stake as they face Brexit’s final reckoning -- and with less influence than they are accustomed to.

Banks such as Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. use London as their base for doing business with European Union clients. Now, they are torn between the impulse to keep a big presence in the financial hub and their frustration at the U.K.’s go-it-alone approach as it prepares to leave the bloc on Friday.

The big U.S. banks have been regularly meeting with officials from the U.K. Treasury to emphasize the importance of winning so-called equivalence from the EU, which would allow them to largely keep their current structure, according to half a dozen bankers who spoke on condition of anonymity. But the U.K. government has expressed determination to forge its own path.

[owenmarsden]

Brexit Officially Unstoppable As European Parliament Ratifies Boris Johnson's Deal.

Nigel Farage’s final speech as an MEP saw him reprimanded for saying his party “just hate the EU” in the wake of a discussion about Auschwitz. His jeering colleagues were told to “put your flags away – you’re leaving” by the chair of the proceedings. Meanwhile mourning Remainer MEPs sang Auld Lang Syne and held aloft scarves bearing the words “always united” as the European Parliament ratified Boris Johnson’s deal in Brussels and Brexit became officially unstoppable.The display came after the parliament marked 75 years since the liberation of Auschwitz. Farage described the vote as “the point of no return”. Widely anticipated after Westminster backed the withdrawal agreement earlier this month, it means the UK will leave the EU at 11pm on Friday and British MEPs will effectively lose their jobs. The historic moment, which ends 47 years of Britain’s membership of the bloc, led to emotional scenes in the chamber. Remainers voiced hopes that the UK would rejoin the EU in future and broke into a rendition of the farewell folk song Auld Lang Syne as the vote was declared. Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, led the debate and paid tribute to Britons to the EU, adding “we will always love you and we will never be far” as she bid UK MEPs farewell.“No new partnership will bring back the benefits of being part of the same union but we have the duty to seek the best for the British and for the European people in a post-Brexit world,” she said. “To our British friends and many – perhaps not all – but many of our British MEPs here in the room, I want to use the words of the famous British poet George Eliot.

[Amelie Barrett]

Brexit: What is the transition period?

The UK left the European Union at 23:00 GMT on 31 January, but that is not the end of the Brexit story.That's because the UK has now entered an 11-month period, known as the transition, that keeps the UK bound to the EU's rules. The idea behind the transition period is to give some breathing space to allow new UK-EU negotiations to take place.
These talks will determine what the future relationship will eventually look like. Both sides have already outlined their broad aims, in a 27-page document known as the political declaration.

[Amelie Barrett]

Brexit: What happens now?

The UK left the EU on 31 January 2020 and has now entered an 11-month transition period. During this period the UK effectively remains in the EU's customs union and single market and continues to obey EU rules.

Future trade deal

The first priority will be to negotiate a trade deal with the EU. The UK wants as much access as possible for its goods and services to the EU. But the government has made clear that the UK must leave the customs union and single market and end the overall jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.

Time is short. The EU could take weeks to agree on a formal negotiating mandate - all the remaining 27 member states and the European Parliament have to be in agreement. That means formal talks might only begin in March.

[rosiebaxter990]

BREXIT FURY: Uk Fishermen ‘first Thrown Overboard’ If Boris Serious About Eu Trade Deal

BRITISH fishermen have been warned they will be "first thrown overboard if Boris Johnson seriously wants to pursue a trade agreement with the EU", as huge pressure grows on the Prime Minister not to sell out the UK fishing in exchange for a favourable post-Brexit agreement with Brussels. Professor Alex de Ruyter, director of the Centre for Brexit Studies at Birmingham City University, warned: “The EU will insist on access to UK fishing waters in addition to level playing field provisions and precursors to any trade agreement.

“The most likely result of failure would be tariffs on UK fishing exports which (unless the UK public discover a vastly increased appetite for langoustines and smoked salmon) would bring the fishing industry to its knees. “Expect UK fishermen to be the first thrown overboard if Johnson seriously wants to pursue a trade agreement with the EU." If the Prime Minister does sacrifice UK fishing in exchange for a more favourable trade deal with the EU, other member states would still have access to UK waters.

[owenmarsden]

EU decision to scrap clock changes after Brexit could affect UK business


An EU decision to scrap seasonal clock changes after Brexit could have implications for the UK, a report has warned. The report, published on Tuesday by a House of Lords sub-committee, said it could leave UK businesses out-of-step with European counterparts. The policy would create time differences of up to three hours with certain EU countries, it pointed out. “From the evidence we heard,” it read, “it was clear that non-alignment could lead to an increase in the time differences between the UK and its EU trading partners, reducing the number of common operating hours for businesses. “Academic studies and anecdotal evidence… suggest that this could pose an obstacle to trade in some sectors.” The Clock changes study, by the Lords’ EU internal market sub-committee, comes ahead of the 1 April deadline for EU member states to decide whether they want to abolish summer and winter clock changes from October next year. The UK government has rejected the prospect of the following suit. However, the report warned the government would be ill-prepared to deal with the changes.

[tracym]

The effects of Brexit will in part be determined by the EU

[tracym]

Then, while Johnson has negotiated a new Brexit arrangement for Northern Ireland, the effectiveness of the plan to prevent a hard border between the British Irish territory and the Republic of Ireland is yet to be tested. What all of this means is that psychologically the UK is no longer one entity.