Brexit Bulletin: EU Talks Tough
Brexit Bulletin: EU Talks Tough
(Bloomberg) --
What’s Happening? European Union members are ratcheting up their negotiating demands.
The U.K. should be subject to strict conditions on unfair competition, fishing and human rights after the 11-month post-Brexit transition period expires, according to a draft European Union negotiating mandate drawn up by member states and seen by Bloomberg News.
Controversially, the governments also want to force the U.K. to continue to abide by EU rules in areas such as state aid—even if the bloc changes them in the future. The plans are tougher than those set out last week by the European Commission and risk inflaming tensions with Downing Street ahead of contentious talks about the bloc’s post-Brexit relationship with the U.K.
“We are not prepared to conclude a deal at any price,” Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, told reporters in Luxembourg on Monday. “We will defend the interests of the EU.” The bloc’s negotiating mandate could be revised again before the EU-27 are scheduled to sign it off in Brussels on Feb. 25.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has already rejected several of the other side’s demands, saying he wants to break free from the EU’s rule book after Brexit. His government plans to negotiate multiple free trade agreements at the same time as discussing future ties with Europe.
The scale of that task was driven home by White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow, who said in an interview that the U.K. and U.S. are in the “preliminary stages of preliminary talks” for a trade deal. “We are all interested in doing something. But there’s no structure to it yet,” he added.
Beyond Brexit
- Angela Merkel had a plan for who follows her as German chancellor. It’s now in tatters.
- As Asia panics, one country is winning praise for its approach to managing the coronavirus.
- Catastrophic fires released billions of tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere in 2019.
Brexit in Brief
Friction | The logistics industry should prepare for strict border controls between Britain and the EU after Brexit, cabinet minister Michael Gove said. Industry representatives heard him say that U.K.-EU trade won’t get preferential treatment after the 11-month post-Brexit transition period expires on Dec. 31, Bloomberg’s Joe Mayes reports.
Not Bluffing | Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon vowed to maintain pressure on the U.K. for another referendum on independence. “The prime minister ultimately cannot deny democracy,” she told Bloomberg Television. “You cannot stand in the way of the right of the people of any country to choose their own future.”
Ballot Box Breakthrough | Sinn Fein’s historic performance in the Irish election thrust the left-wing nationalists into the coalition picture and was dubbed a “revolution” by party leader Mary Lou McDonald. The Sinn Fein surge left prime ministerial frontrunner Micheal Martin with a dilemma over whether to bring the party into government.
However | Ireland’s shift to populism is very different to the forces that have shaken neighboring Britain recently, writes Bloomberg Opinion’s Lionel Laurent.
Growth Opportunity | U.K. economic growth is likely to move back towards its quarterly trend rate of 0.4% as the effects of lower uncertainty, a more stable global backdrop and fiscal stimulus bolster demand, though risks remain that could see the eventual figure come in lower, according to Dan Hanson, senior U.K. economist at Bloomberg Economics.
Generation Rent | A generation of Britons priced out of the U.K. housing market face the prospect of renting homes into their old age, according to new analysis published Monday.
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--With assistance from Jenny Leonard and Shawn Donnan.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Adam Blenford at ablenford@bloomberg.net
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