We had a pretty full on day yesterday. Met with people from EP, Commission and Council as well as UK chambers of commerce in EU. The message developed by #3blokes with associates in Geneva last week will be given to
2/ TM the PM tonight at dinner as we requested.
Donald Tusk outlined it in his letter to TM the PM in the Salzburg invitation.
3/ The EU27 are READY and expecting a no deal. Chequers is dead 100%. EU deal on the WA or no deal. TM the PM has run out of time. If agreement not in sight by Oct 18th formal summit then no kicking the can down the road.
We MUST stop Brexit. For all our sakes.
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Breaking news: EU to offer UK the best trade deal so far post Brexit. Who was expecting that? Well I was for one.... the problem has always been with the timing. It'll take years to agree on the terms of any new trade agreement because the UK wants to diverge it's regulations
2/ away from those of the Single Market. And there is only a SINGLE market not cherry picked pieces. This is going to be the stumbling block for signing. FTAs usually require convergence of rules not divergence. DUP and UUP have been in Brussels today with their red lines.
3/ which means that an orderly Withdrawal cannot be agreed and UK leaves on 29/3/19. No WA=No Transition and a cliff edge Brexit that no-one in their right mind voted for. i.e. catastrophe for UK. When TM the PM comes back from Brussels next week she will be forced to present
"Why should the UK have to pay more than other EU countries to support the new members states in the Balkans etc? UK is largest net contributor to EU!" Another shouty piece from the Brexit camp. Another LIE and they call us Remainians 'scaremongers'. LOL
2/ How much *do* the UK pay compared to other EU members? Lets take a look:
The United Kingdom pay far less than most members of the EU. Now who woulda thunk that?
3/ The fact is that in cash terms of contributions per capita of population the UK is ranked 26th of ALL EU member states at around EUR105.12 per person. Only Croatia pays less per person in contributions.
The problem we have in UK is that if UK leaves with no Withdrawal Agreement then the EU are bound not only by the Treaty of the EU and the Treaty for the Functioning of the EU but dozens of other international treaties with other countries too.
2/ If the EU break the rules to help out the UK then they'll find themselves in court in the Hague, in dispute at the WTO and potentially sued by other Governments via the World Bank...
3/ The EU economy last year was €15.3 trillion. If they are forced by the UK to lose a few billion as a result of Brexit then that's what they will do.
Not out of choice or to punish the UK for leaving but as a result of international law.
The LANGUAGE of Brexit on borders; EU said none "on the island", UK said none "on the border". Irish officials talk about multi dimensional border issues; constitutional, cultural, psychological, societal,historical - UK talk about tariffs, duties and customs and political games.
We had been in country for less than 20 minutes before a former member of the Ulster Defence Regiment explained that if we wanted an AK47 then we were that moment driving through the best place to get one... easily accessed.
Herein lays the issue. If you have customs officers checking paperwork of the 45 million truck crossings a year between North and South then they'll need police protection. The police will need army protection ...
Back in 2016 I asked the question about ISDS when discussing TTIP and whether foreign companies who had invested over a trillion pounds of FDI in the UK might have the right to sue UK Gov for Brexit compensation.
2/ Its taken a while but from a legal standpoint they might have a legal basis for their claims. FDI to the UK is roughly £400 billion from EU27 firms, £300 billion from USA and another £300bn or so from Japan and rest of world...
3/ @everycountry picked this up in Geneva. The article below in legalese from July this year highlights why this may now be true. Even if UK Government wins their defence the cost of all this court time is going to have an impact.
It's definitely time for bed. It's 9 minutes away from 24 hours since i got home from the Bath for Europe event last night and here I am in southern Spain getting ready for bed.. /1
on the rooftop of the penthouse apartment given to #3blokesinapub for our stay here.... (not quite given but cheaper than an air BnB thanks to the amazing support from the fine folk in this part of the world that also think Brexit is a catastrophic idea). /2
@everycountry and I have had some REALLY interesting meetings today in Gibraltar with some exceedingly high level contacts and finished the evening with the fine folk from Brexpats in Spain... 2 more episodes of #3blokes in the can and coming soon! /3