Liam Fox's target for post-Brexit exports is wishful thinking | The Guardian |

The timing of the government's latest export drive is far from accidental. With Theresa May intent on showing Brussels that Britain could not just survive but thrive in the event of a hard Brexit, Whitehall has come up with a plan for increasing the amount of goods and services sold overseas.

This is by no means the first attempt to broaden the horizons of UK plc. Back in 2015, the aim was to double exports to £1tn a year by 2020. That always looked a stretch and the target was dropped by the international trade secretary, Liam Fox, early last year.

Now Fox has returned with a different target: to raise exports as a share of gross domestic product from 30% to 35%.

○ Germany poised to set world's largest trade surplus | DW |

Ministers would dearly love Britain to be up there with Germany as a European exporting powerhouse, but have so far failed to learn the right lessons. Germany runs the world's biggest current account surplus but that has little to do with export strategies cooked up by Angela Merkel's officials in Berlin.

Put simply, Germany has top quality products that the rest of the world wants to buy. It has an enviable reputation for design, product quality and after-sales service. A competitive currency allowed Germany to build up its industrial strength in the 1950s and 1960s, and is still a helpful factor today. Finance and industry work in partnership, giving exporters long-term security. When global demand is strong, as it was during the post-war boom and has again been the case recently, Germany has a surge in exports.

There are opportunities out there, even with the shadow of protectionism hanging over the global economy. But seizing them is not a matter of setting Gosplan-like targets. It is not even a matter of signing free trade deals. It is a matter of getting the basics right.

Britain would take unilateral action in the event of a no-deal Brexit | The Guardian |

In a speech coinciding with the publication of the first batch of technical notices laying out the government's contingency plans for a no-deal scenario, the Brexit secretary will say that Britain would not risk triggering a tit-for-tat battle with Brussels by imposing new border checks or travel restrictions.

○ No deal Brexit plans 'better late than never', business groups tell government

"Our overarching aim is to facilitate the smooth, continued functioning of business, transport, infrastructure, research, aid programmes and funding streams," he will say.

"In some cases, it means taking unilateral action to maintain as much continuity as possible in the short term in the event of no deal - irrespective of whether the EU reciprocates.

...
One policy expected to be included is a pledge that the government will underwrite aid projects, to ensure British NGOs can still take part in EU-funded work.

...
In some areas such as farming - where the government's Rural Payments Agency already administers EU subsidies, and the Treasury has pledged to maintain the budget at its current level for this parliament - achieving continuity should be relatively straightforward. In others, the way the EU27 responds will be crucial.

The foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, warned in the Netherlands last week that parting from the EU on unfriendly terms would be "a huge geostrategic mistake," in "a period where the world is increasingly unstable"

Important not to misrepresent my words: Britain WOULD survive and prosper without a deal...but it would be a big mistake for Europe because of inevitable impact on long term partnership with UK. We will only sign up to deal that respects referendum result

— Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) August 17, 2018

ENDURING FRIENDSHIP

Great meeting with UK Foreign Secretary @Jeremy_Hunt. We discussed the importance of the historic alliance between our two nations & our strong partnership for freedom. pic.twitter.com/cjRCP5SYBd

— Vice President Mike Pence (@VP) August 21, 2018

Life expectancy is seen as indicator of well-being in a modern state ...

○ The UK and the US are witnessing a decline in life expectancy

A  new study, published in the British Medical Journal, indicates that the United Kingdom and the United States are the only 2 western countries where life expectancy is falling. Researchers conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study, which evaluated trends in national mortality data across 17 high-income countries during recent years.

○ Ranking of the 20 countries with the highest life expectancy as of 2016 [Germany also missing in top 20]

'Sapere aude'

U.K. to End Zero Risk for EU Government Bonds on No Deal Brexit < wipes tears >

The change would automatically require U.K. banks, and subsidiaries holding parts of their liquidity in government bonds, to commit additional capital against the securities, according to the Treasury.

A deal that results in both sides recognizing their regimes as equivalent [?!] would avoid that scenario.

True scale of #BrexitAusterity also snuck out by @hmtreasury today - the impact that a weaker economy would have on tax revenues revealed:

£80bn of potential cuts to NHS & public services if we don't stop hard Brexit. pic.twitter.com/niyywfOxC8

— Chris Leslie (@ChrisLeslieMP) August 23, 2018

UK warns of red tape, card charges in 'no-deal' Brexit | DW |

In recent weeks, there have been concerns that the country could crash out of the 28-nation bloc without a deal amid infighting within British Prime Minister Theresa May's divided Conservative government.

Raab said he remained confident the UK and the EU would reach a deal, but said that he was releasing the documents to help people and businesses prepare for any disruption caused in case there is no deal.

The guidelines stated that companies trading with Europe would face new customs and excise rules and require paperwork covering customs and safety declarations. If Britain left without a deal, "the free circulation of goods between the UK and EU would cease," the guidance said.

What do the papers say?

• Britons will have to pay more to make credit card payments in the EU.


• Businesses on the continent could be cut off from investment banks in London.


• Britons living in the EU could lose access to their UK bank accounts.


• Companies trading with Europe would face new paperwork to cover customs and safety declarations.


• Britain will unilaterally accept some EU rules and give EU financial services firms continued access to the UK market.


• The UK will recognize EU standards for medicines. This means that drugs from the bloc won't need to be re-tested in the UK.


• Contingency plans to avoid shortages of medicines.

Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Ann McGregor said yesterday's Brexit papers had "two key outcomes for Northern Ireland businesses - it confuses them more and increases their costs".

After conversations in #DerryLondonderry yesterday I'm more convinced than ever that @theresa_may @10DowningStreet is right to insist that ensuring no hard border on island of Ireland is a fundamental principle of our EU exit negotiating strategy

— David Lidington (@DLidington) August 25, 2018

No-deal Brexit is only alternative to Chequers plan, says Lidington | The Guardian |

The Cabinet Office minister, David Lidington, has warned that relations between Britain and France are at "a fork in the road" - and the only alternative to the prime minister's Chequers plan is a no-deal Brexit.

Ministers are concerned the French government remains deeply sceptical about the approach spelled out in its July white paper, prompting Theresa May to fly to Emmanuel Macron's holiday home earlier this month to try to win the president over.

David Lidington warns EU that Chequers plan is only alternative to no-deal | The Independent |

Speaking to the Mouvement des Entreprises de France (MEDEF) conference, Mr Lidington said: "With exactly seven months until the end of Article 50 process and less than two months ahead of the October European Council, we face the choice between the pragmatic proposals we are discussing now with the European Commission, or no deal.

"The alternative models do not meet the level of ambition or the outcome we all want to see delivered.

"So, we need the EU to engage with us on our positive vision of the future relationship."

He added: "I truly feel that we are at a fork in the road. There are trends on both sides of the Channel, both sides of the North Sea, and both sides of the Atlantic that could see us drift apart."

○ France and Germany make contingency plans for no-deal Brexit | France24 |

'Sapere aude'

Brexit has reached a dead end | DW Opinion - Aug. 14, 2018 |

The UK's Brexit negotiations with the European Union are at an impasse -- that's according to Prime Minister Theresa May. In a letter to her own divided Conservative party, she admits that, surrounded by red lines she is not allowed to cross, she can neither push ahead nor turn back. Brexit can't be too soft or too hard, or else the various parties and the EU will be unable to reach an agreement.

Brussels has rejected May's latest proposal, which would have meant negotiating a kind of free trade area only for goods. Just 11 percent of UK citizens liked that plan, according to opinion polls.

Germany and EU tell UK: No Brexit cherry-picking | DW |

Berlin and Brussels showed a united front on Wednesday delivering a single message to London: There will be no cherry-picking when it comes to the single market.

European Union's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier came to the German capital for talks with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas, after which they appeared before a handful of cameras and reporters to offer similar statements.

"In the end, it will come down to the fact that we will resist the so-called cherry-picking," said Maas, following familiar declarations of sorrow that Britain had chosen to part ways, and that Germany, like all the other 27 remaining EU member states, wanted a close relationship with the UK in future.

However, both men remained optimistic that an agreement could be reached - that there would be no "disorganized Brexit." Barnier said a deal had been reached on a majority of the issues, while Maas professed that the "last big hurdle" was the question of the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.

"We are firmly convinced that the exit agreement must guarantee that Brexit must not lead to a hard border in Northern Ireland," said Maas. "It is important that this guarantee must be valid regardless of how the EU and Britain will shape its new relationship."

'Single market means single market'

Echoing British Prime Minister Theresa May's soundbite that "Brexit means Brexit," Barnier switched to English to deliver his own quip in retort: "single market means single market." This organization of trade within the EU, he said, remained "non-negotiable."

Michel Barnier: EU negotiator 'failing to make himself available' | The Guardian |

... UK officials were said to be "tearing their hair out" at the EU's failure to live up to their pledges to intensify talks at the highest level. The issue has been a reversal of the positions earlier in the talks, when Barnier made the point to EU diplomats in private that he would have liked to see more of David Davis, the then Brexit secretary, in Brussels.

The tension in the talks has been exacerbated by a lack of progress in the negotiations last week, despite claims by both sides that the discussions had been "positive".

The Guardian has learned that discussions over Northern Ireland proved to be some of the most difficult yet, with both sides digging in. Irish government officials, briefed on the meeting, were told that the UK side had insisted that progress on avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland could not be made unless there was progress on Chequers.

The EU, in turn, repeated that the British government needed to live up to the commitments it made on an "all-weather" solution to avoiding a hard border through a backstop solution in the withdrawal agreement, which would snap into place if a wider deal or bespoke technological solution did not solve the problem.

Sources said the talks were so difficult that the only positive that could be taken was that the clash between the officials had been aired now rather than later in the year.

...
Barnier - who tweeted a picture of himself on Sunday posing in the sun in Albertville, in his home region of Savoie in south-east France - has been in Germany, and was understood to be again leaving Brussels for Croatia on Friday afternoon, following what was set to be an early morning meeting with Raab.

Barnier subsequently changed his flights, however. Five hours of talks with Raab are now pencilled in to his diary awaiting confirmation, it is understood.

Bref retour ce dimanche dans mon pays de #Savoie. Rencontre amicale avec le Maire d'Albertville Frédérique Burnier Framboret dans la belle cité médiévale de Conflans. pic.twitter.com/UqAKUMCO0b

— Michel Barnier (@MichelBarnier) August 26, 2018

'Scallop war': French and British fishermen skirmish over shellfish | France24 |

The British were heavily outnumbered at five boats to around 35 French vessels, according to maritime official Ingrid Parot, and were eventually chased from the scallop-rich waters of the Baie de Seine area of Normandy.

The skirmish took place more than 12 nautical miles out to sea where the British are legally allowed to fish all year round.

But their French counterparts, restricted to fishing for scallops between October 1 and May 15, have accused the British of depleting stocks and want them to face the same rules.

○ Common Fisheries Policy (CFP)
○ Don't blame the EU for the decline in some British fishing ports | LSE |
○ UK fishermen may not win waters back after Brexit, EU memo reveals | The Guardian - Feb. 2017 |

'Sapere aude'

Panasonic to move European headquarters out of UK | Nikkei Asian Reeview |

Panasonic will move its European headquarters from outside London to Amsterdam in October to avoid potential tax issues linked to the U.K.'s scheduled exit from the European Union.

Japan could treat the U.K. as a tax haven if it lowers its corporate rate, Laurent Abadie, CEO of Panasonic Europe, told Nikkei here, referring to the country's attempt to lure businesses with low levies. Abadie was attending IFA 2018, the continent's largest electronics fair.

Given various business implications from Brexit, the company has been considering the relocation for 15 months, he added.

Britain said in 2016 that it would gradually lower its 20% corporate tax rate to retain multinational corporations after its departure from the unified European market. But excessive tax cuts could earn the country tax-haven designation, creating the possibility that companies operating there could be slapped with back taxes by their home countries.

Moving the regional headquarters to continental Europe will also help Panasonic avoid any barriers to the flow of people and goods, Abadie said.

○ Trump Calls 20% Corporate Tax Rate in Plan a 'Perfect Number'

'Sapere aude'

Barnier stands firm on post-Brexit border in Irish Sea | The Guardian |

Michel Barnier is refusing to back down on erecting a border in the Irish Sea to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland, and has publicly asked the British government for data to prove that the checks on goods flowing within the territory of the UK would be few in number.

The EU's chief negotiator, who has been strident on the issue during the behind-the-scenes negotiations, made public his request for the information as he warned he needed an agreement on Northern Ireland and other outstanding withdrawal issues "by November at the latest".

TRANSCRIPT: Read in full what @MichelBarnier had to say today following his meeting with @DominicRaab. English translation to follow shortly: https://t.co/VGfJ2QCEgQ #Brexit pic.twitter.com/buSlBwh4My

— Daniel Ferrie (@DanielFerrie) August 31, 2018

Barnier confronts Raab over discovery of Brexit no-deal letters to EU27 https://t.co/84agMJ0TWm

— The Guardian (@guardian) September 11, 2018