Brexit. Why do Brits want Out of the EU?

If the UK government wants to be more ambitious in its future relationship which is not part of the withdrawal agreement, we can do so, and then come to an agreement on the entire package. That would make the question of the backstop less prominent.

Looking at it objectively, I have the impression that the backstop is not the central issue. Ultimately, the debate in Britain is about what the future of the UK will look like. I believe that we can overcome the current difficulties when we discuss that issue together.

We’re cooperating with the British government. Things could start moving rapidly. This depends on the future relationship, like I already said. We are ready to be more ambitious if the British decide to shift their red lines, for example by remaining in a customs union, or participating in the single market. I believe there is a readiness in London for that.

If Britain asks for an extension, it has to be approved by EU leaders. They will only agree if three questions are answered: first and second, why and how long? And third, will not that be a problem for holding the EU elections in May? I have no clear legal answer to the third question yet. It is important that the EU’s democratic processes are not disturbed by this, however.

The first two questions are complex and interconnected: it needs a stable majority in London for all laws related to Brexit that need to be adopted. This will need time.

There will be checks in case of a no-deal-Brexit. We will do everything possible to enforce them unobtrusively. However, that will not be possible with everything. How should we control animals crossing the border? There will have to be checks. Again, the problem arose from Brexit and we expect the UK to take responsibility.

The backstop is like an insurance. It is not there to be used. And if so, only provisionally. However, we cannot tie the backstop to a time limit.

This is a pan-European problem because it is to do with the integrity of the European single market. A product that enters the market in Northern Ireland and then Ireland will find itself in the European market and could continue to travel to Luxembourg. Here we have an obligation to protect European consumers and businesses and therefore we have to control these goods.

A delay now will not solve their problems.

The head of plane giant Airbus has branded Theresa May’s handling of Brexit a “disgrace” and ramped up a threat to close its plants if the UK crashes out of the EU with no deal.

Tom Enders, the company’s chief executive, urged Britons to ignore “Brexiteers' madness” that it was too well-established to pull out of the country altogether.

"It is a disgrace that, more than two years after the result of the 2016 referendum, businesses are still unable to plan properly for the future,” Mr Enders said.

“We, along with many of our peers, have repeatedly called for clarity, but we still have no idea what is really going on here.”

And he added: “Please don't listen to the Brexiteers' madness which asserts that 'because we have huge plants here we will not move and we will always be here'. They are wrong.”

The BBC is considering Brussels as the location for a new EU base after Brexit to allow it to continue to broadcast across the continent.

Belgium’s prime minister, Charles Michel, has disclosed that he held discussions on the possibility in Davos with the BBC’s director general, Tony Hall.

“Belgium is often on the shortlist of companies eager to anchor in the European Union after Brexit,” Michel said from the Swiss town hosting the World Economic Forum.

It is understood that the BBC is also looking at the Netherlands and Ireland as potential sites for the new offshoot.

So what could the consequences be if trade arrangements are not fully in place by 29 March and the UK leaves with no deal?

In the countries where the UK had no formal trade agreement, both would have to trade under the rules overseen by the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Under this system, every WTO member is free to negotiate its own tariffs - or taxes - on different goods. But under the rules, members have to offer the same tariff to every other WTO country.

Queen Elizabeth has sent a delicately coded message to Britain’s factious political class over Brexit, urging lawmakers to seek common ground and grasp the big picture to resolve the crisis.

With the clock ticking down to March 29th, the date set in law for Britain to leave the European Union, the United Kingdom is in the deepest political crisis in half a century as it grapples with how, or even whether, to exit the European project it joined in 1973.

While the queen (92) did not mention Brexit explicitly in an annual speech to her local Women’s Institute in Norfolk, the monarch said every generation faced “fresh challenges and opportunities.”

“As we look for new answers in the modern age, I for one prefer the tried and tested recipes, like speaking well of each other and respecting different points of view; coming together to seek out the common ground; and never losing sight of the bigger picture,” the queen said.

Though steeped in the conventional language the queen has made her hallmark, the remarks in the context of Britain’s crisis are a signal to politicians to sort out the turmoil that has pushed the world’s fifth largest economy to the brink.

The Queen has urged the country to “seek out the common ground” in a sign of royal nervousness over the divisions caused by Brexit.

Delivering a rebuke to warring politicians, she urged them to respect, not attack, one another while “never losing sight of the bigger picture”.

Her intervention came 64 days before Britain is due to leave the European Union, with no settled plan on how it will be achieved.

French finance minister says no-deal Brexit will have concrete consequencesFrance is preparing for the worst as the clock ticks down to Brexit, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire said, adding that he does not have any more to give as Prime Minister Theresa May battles to break the deadlock.

Mr Le Maire said a no-deal Brexit would be catastrophic for Britain and that it was up to the government to find a solution before Britain leaves the European Union on 29 March.

He added that in the event of a no-deal, France could not ease the process by offering side deals on aviation or logistics.

"You can't be out of the EU and getting all the benefits of the single market," he told BBC radio.

"That is a clear red line for France."

Speaking from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Mr Le Maire said: "I'm afraid we have nothing to give.

"An agreement is an agreement and the responsibility of Brexit is clearly on the shoulders of the British government, not on the shoulders of the governments of the EU member states.

"It is up to the British government to find the right way out, not us, the European governments.

"If there is a need for any further clarifications, of course we are always open to clarifications.

"But reopening the deal would mean weeks, months, of new negotiations between the UK and the European member states, that is exactly what we want to avoid."

Asked whether it was possible to revisit the Irish backstop within the Withdrawal Agreement, Mr Le Maire added: "It is done. It is done and I think that we have to stick to the deal.

"I don't want to speculate on internal British policy because it is quite complicated and the UK is a sovereign country, but we don't have to speculate. It is up to the British government to take its decisions now."

Asked about whether no-deal measures taken by the EU would be as bad as some groups have suggested, including border delays between Dover and Calais, Mr Le Maire said: "We are aware that a no-deal situation would have concrete consequences and would force us to take some decisions to reinforce the control at our borders.

"So, there are many concrete consequences that would be a consequence of a no-deal situation. But we are prepared to do that."

The EU's Competition Commissioner said Ireland and the EU will "figure out" how to deal with a no-deal Brexit, if it arises.

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Margrethe Vestager said that ending with a no-deal Brexit, would be the "worst case scenario", adding that there is a risk for everyone involved.

When asked if she can see a way in which the integrity of the single market is protected without border infrastructure on the island of Ireland, she said that she is "absolutely sure" that they would find solutions that "everyone can live with", in the event of a no deal.

She said that the EU is standing firmly with Ireland on the issue.

Britain's finance minister Philip Hammond declined to rule out resigning if Mrs May decided to back a no-deal Brexit, putting some distance between himself and MPs including Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd - who has also declined to rule out quitting over no-deal - over the importance of Tuesday's Brexit vote.

Speaking on BBC Radio he said: "What Amber is doing is reflecting a view among some of my colleagues that somehow next Tuesday is high noon, the last chance to make a stand against no-deal.

"I don't think that is the case, I don't think next Tuesday has to be, or indeed will be the high noon of this debate.

"Parliament will want to be confident that it will have an opportunity to express its clear view and some of my colleagues, including some who are in Government, will want to be able to express their view.

"But I don't think next Tuesday is the point when this comes to a head."

Mr Hammond showed the depth of the row inside the Cabinet over a no-deal Brexit, doubling down on his warnings about the damage it would cause to the economy.

He said: "What people were told in the referendum campaign, the majority who voted to leave, they were told that we would be able to get a deal with the European Union, that that would protect our jobs and our prosperity and that our exit could be smooth and orderly to a new relationship with the European Union.

"But it is absolutely clear that if we don't get a deal that is not the way it will work.

"There will be very significant disruption in the short term and a very significant hit to our economy in the medium to long term.

"Our job is to deliver the British people what they believe they were promised in that referendum, to make sure we respect the decision of the referendum but do it in a way that gives them the future prosperity they were promised."
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If Brexit Britain wants Europe to listen, it must learn to speak European
Timothy Garton Ash

An old New Yorker cartoon shows a middle-aged man at a drinks party saying to another: “But that’s enough about you, let’s talk about me!” This is Brexit Britain talking to the rest of Europe. [...]

Most EU sources agree that it would be relatively straightforward to get an extension until 1 July (thus not significantly affecting the new European parliament). Those extra three months might be sufficient for the UK parliament to agree some tweaked version of May’s deal, or to put the goal of a softer Brexit (somewhere between permanent customs union and Norway plus) into the political declaration. They are nothing like enough to have the national debate we need and then hold a carefully prepared second referendum. Moreover, it is not until after the European elections, the appointment of four top people in the EU (the new presidents of the European council, European commission, European parliament and European Central Bank), and quite possibly the emergence of Kramp-Karrenbauer as head of a new German government, that we will have a clearer idea of what kind of EU it is we will finally be deciding to stay in or leave.

For clarity on both the British and the European side, we need another year, until 29 March 2020.

[...] while there have been many pro-European British politicians, there have been far fewer who actually speak European, in the way that French and Germans, Poles, Spaniards and Italians instinctively do. For they start with both head and heart from the premise of a shared future. Even from pro-European British mouths, the phrase “remain and reform” can all too easily sound like “you must reform so we can remain”. The burden of our song should be the other way round, “we must remain so together we can reform an EU that needs it to survive and prosper”. That melody at least has a sporting chance of finding some sympathetic ears.

If we Brits are to get the time we need for the biggest political decision of our lives, we must speak not just plain English but also elementary European.

Organisations in Kent preparing contingency plans for Brexit were advised by the government on how to resist releasing information about their work to avoid causing public concern.

A leaked report has revealed how councils, emergency services and other public bodies in the county given tips on how to avoid disclosing details under Freedom of Information rules.

It advised bosses to follow guidance from the Department for Exiting the EU (DExEU) and showed ways to keep emergency plans under wraps - and in some circumstances even refuse to say whether it held any information.
[...]
The report also reveals the government has tied ports to non-disclosure agreements, preventing them from releasing any details about their discussions.

Under a section headed: “Guidance on Non-disclosure Agreements” it quotes recommendations from the government’s Cross Border Delivery Group.

This says that while port authorities are free to share information with other organisations, these agreements “remain in effect for general disclosure into the public domain.”

A statement issued by Kent County Council on behalf of the forum said: "We are keen to provide our partners with advice on how they can prepare for a worst case EU Exit scenario.

"So that they can share it with their customers, the partner pack is about to be updated without the previous FOI guidance and under an ‘official’ marking.

"It will be reissued in the next few days, together with a pack for businesses.”

“The original pack included guidance previously provided to partners from the Department for Exiting the EU, regarding how FOI requests should be handled.” ... ... ...

Let’s see if the Queen’s speech can shake them out of their short-termism.