Brexit News & Discussion v6: EU Leaders Go to Battle Over Plugging Post-Brexit Budget Gap

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Well, there goes the Scots' dreams and hope.



"Theresa May backed us on Catalonia. Brexit will not break our bond."

Mariano Rajoy, Prime Minister of Spain | Dec 5, 2017

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The relationship between the UK and Spain is as old as the history of our two countries. We are bound by a friendship based on values which we still share today: freedom, democracy, the separation of powers and the rule of law.

The rich historical and cultural bond that unites two of the oldest monarchies in the world is reflected in our close political relations. We also have close ties from an economic and trade perspective. The facts speak for themselves: the UK is our fourth largest customer and our seventh largest supplier. In 2016, Spanish exports to Britain amounted to €19.15bn, with imports of €11.18bn. We are visited by more citizens from the UK than from any other country. And more than half a million Spanish and British citizens have chosen to live in the UK and Spain respectively.

The UK is our main investment destination, with a stock of €82bn in 2015, and the second largest investor in Spain (€44.62bn). Spanish companies in the UK operate in industries including finance, telecommunications and energy supply. The UK is also very present in Spain with significant investments in, for instance, the telecommunications industry.

On 23 June 2016, the British people made a decision which we respect, and which confronts us with a complex challenge: to ensure the UK’s orderly exit from the EU and find a new framework for all manner of relations that for 44 years took place within the union. I would not want to exaggerate or underestimate the difficulty of the task ahead.

Citizens are our priority: we must give them certainty and reassurance, and safeguard their rights and interests. It is also essential to ensure businesses can continue operating in a context of legal security and predictability. Doing otherwise would significantly discourage investment, growth and job creation. It is our obligation as leaders to minimise, as far as possible, the impact of this decision on our citizens. It is a matter of pragmatism, but also of justice.

The situation has progressed substantially since the important speech Theresa May gave in Florence in September. Her proposals and constructive spirit have made the talks move forward significantly. I hope that a reasonable agreement which respects the interests of all parties can be reached regarding the financial settlement and the Irish border, preserving the Good Friday agreement.

Time is short. On 14 and 15 December, the European council will meet in Brussels: we are on the verge of an agreement and I hope we will soon be able to move on to the second phase of negotiations. The two teams are making invaluable efforts. I would like to point out that the EU’s lead negotiator, Michel Barnier, has Spain’s full support and trust.

The United Kingdom is leaving the European Union, but not Europe. The aim will be to build a strategic alliance to respond to the common challenges and goals of the 21st century: job creation, migration, climate change, development, cybersecurity and terrorism.

We must not forget that the UK and Spain have always stood firm and united in their fight against the scourge of terrorism, which continues to cause great pain and which has struck both our countries this year. I am convinced that, together, we will be able to better stand up to any challenge.

Our unity can also be seen in the firmness and clarity of May’s government in the face of the events that have recently taken place in the autonomous region of Catalonia.

Britain’s stance is particularly important, as it is the cradle of parliamentarism and the rule of law. I hope that the coming regional elections in Catalonia will allow us to return to the normality and stability that our institutions require and our citizens deserve.

Winston Churchill, whose family history is linked to the Spanish war of succession, said: “The farther back you can look, the farther forward you can see.” The history of our nations is inextricably intertwined, and will continue to be so. Britain can count on Spain’s loyal and sincere friendship. We want the best for the UK, because it is simply another way of wishing the same for Spain.



Mariano Rajoy, Prime Minister of Spain

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/dec/05/theresa-may-catalonia-brexit-uk-leaving-eu
 
Well, there goes the Scots' dreams and hope
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What are those , that there's a lost episode of Taggart in an archive somewhere,that the next Lionel Messi hails from East Kilbride or the whole world will come to appreciate Irn-Bru? .
 
I feel like the EU already rejected that. Didn't that already happen?

Well, I guess if the UK keeps the same rights for EU citizens they have now, they could stay in the single market.
They just can't have one without the other. So basically everything stays the same in regards to EU payments and EU courts etc.
But the UK would technically be out of the EU because they would lose any voting rights and influence.
 
Well, I guess if the UK keeps the same rights for EU citizens they have now, they could stay in the single market.
They just can't have one without the other. So basically everything stays the same in regards to EU payments and EU courts etc.
But the UK would technically be out of the EU because they would lose any voting rights and influence.

Man, what a good deal
 
May Heads Back to Brussels After More Brexit Humiliation at Home
By Tim Ross , Svenja O'Donnell , and Emma Ross-Thomas | December 13, 2017




U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May heads to a European summit that was set to be a celebration of the breakthrough victory in Brexit talks she clinched last week. Instead, she arrives hours after a serious defeat at the hands of her own party.

Lawmakers voted 309 to 305 on Wednesday evening to change her government’s planned legislation so that it guarantees they will get a “meaningful vote” on the final deal to leave the European Union at the end of negotiations in 2019. And rather than the Brexit hardliners who have so often undermined her, this time it was pro-Europeans who defected.

The embarrassing reversal for the beleaguered British leader raises questions about whether she can muster enough backing for her vision of Brexit, whose convulsions have dominated U.K. politics for 18 months. While the recent focus was on striking a palatable agreement with the EU on the initial terms of the divorce, the greater challenge has always been on the home front.

Lawmakers in the House of Commons will now have the power to veto the withdrawal treaty before the U.K. leaves the EU if they don’t like the terms. Another defeat looms next week over an amendment that could attract even more rebel backing.

"She has come back to earth with a bump after her success of last week," said Mij Rahman, a political analyst at Eurasia Group in London. "This vote increases the prospect of the Commons rejecting May’s deal next October or November."

May made a personal plea in parliament for colleagues to support her. Ministers spent the day proposing concessions aimed at buying off rebels, including a last-minute offer to come back with a new text. That was met with cries of “too late” in the chamber, before her authority took another knock. The pound pared earlier gains after the vote.

Softer Option

Few people expect May to lose her job. What becomes more likely is that the U.K. will leave the EU in less dramatic fashion than some of May’s ministers wanted and company executives had warned about, the no-deal or "cliff edge" scenario. It points more toward a so-called "soft" Brexit that keeps Britain more in step with the EU, albeit with more twists and turns to come.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/arti...iating-loss-on-key-brexit-law-as-tories-rebel
 


The U.K.’s breakthrough deal to get Brexit talks moving on to the future trading relationship may be short-lived.

That’s because the European Union negotiators preparing for the next stage of talks are drawing battle lines that will see them offer London’s financial services industry inferior access, if any at all, to the continent’s markets, once the post-Brexit transition period ends, according to EU and national government officials involved in the preparatory work.

The EU is set to reject calls for a “Canada Plus, Plus, Plus” arrangement that would include free movement of both goods and services, the officials said. And while some in the U.K. still hope to have a relationship that’s virtually identical to the one now, most in the bloc aren’t prepared to grant any rights to the U.K.’s financial giants other than allowing them establish a presence on EU soil -- under EU supervision.

The end of business as usual for the City of London could deal a blow to the U.K’s services-dependent economy, and to the continent, potentially increasing the cost of capital and fragmenting capital markets.

Brussels Summit
The U.K.’s best hope might lie in EU discord over the future relationship. Even as the consensus view is that a non-member should no longer enjoy the same benefits, differences are likely to emerge during the talks as countries like the Netherlands want to stick as close as possible to the status quo, while others, including France, insist on a clear separation.
 
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