Political relations between UK-EU

[BobKowalski]

SHUSH, don't mention S.M they don't like it, learn grom Boris call it the Norther Ireland deal.Just like he used Australia as code for no deal.

True...but the current situation can work for NI as some businesses are reporting. Enjoying the benefits of the Single Market and unfettered access for NI exports to GB. The issue is GB to NI, so if NI companies source supply chains outside GB they will have a competitive advantage over GB companies. This also applies to RoI companies who can set up a distribution hub or operations in NI to gain access to the GB market once the UK sets up its own checks and border controls with the EU, which shouldn’t apply to NI.

On a EU Single Market/UK market Venn diagram, the NI sits in the overlapping bit. There is an opportunity there, an opportunity that should benefit Ireland as a whole.

The problem is the politics and the DUP who would prefer to begger NI than see it prosper under the current arrangement. Brexit is an emotional cult wrapped in identity politics rather than an rational economic argument.

 

[BobKowalski]

Finally...Johnson is now googling the words ‘I have full responsibility’ to find out what that means :)

‘Ursula von der Leyen finally takes responsibility for the Article 16 blunder on the record. She says: 'We shouldn't even have thought about Article 16! I regret it. And whatever the Commission does or decides, I have full responsibility.'

Ursula von der Leyen : « Nous avons sous-estimé les difficultés de la vaccination »

Dans un entretien à « La Croix », la présidente de la Commission européenne défend la stratégie vaccinale de l’Union européenne mais admet un manque d’anticipation.

www.la-croix.com

 

[mcfc1632]

Yes leaving is the decision, the question was how do we fix the issues it has caused.Its a fact we won’t better off unless we fix them. My question is what do you think we do to fix them.What changes do we need to make to fix Ireland , or businesses increased issues.
What changes to the agreement need making.

It is generally not that when you took the poison is the same time as when you fall ill - it is somewhere upstream

In this case - when the Remainer led UK government of 2016-2019 prevented the planning and preparation work that should have been done to be started

So now we have to respond as and when things come to light. The UK had the option at the end of 2019 - after we at last got shot of the paralysing of parliament - to dump the May WA entirely and renegotiate.

But that would have taken years and therefore played into the EU's hands - we seem to have decided to make the break and deal with the consequences in flight - taking the opportunity of having 5 years until the next election.

I think that the UK should be prepared to act to compensate some areas where there is justification and plan fixes where they are available - my hope and expectation is that as 2021 becomes 2022 we may decide to face down the EU and bring forward changes to the NIP based on experience of this year - depends on a number of factors, including the EU's attitude - whether they are being deliberately damaging - and our planning and preparation for the consequences of them saying NO

 

[BobKowalski]

FT on the NI protocols...

'Sefcovic told the Irish broadcaster RTE that the protocol already included “flexibility” to minimise border friction on such trade and urged the UK to “use and put into practice that flexibility”. He added that “the United Kingdom should deliver on 'what they committed to do, that we would have proper implementation of the protocol.

For us this is absolutely key for avoiding a hard border, for maintaining the peace, for really delivering on what we promised to the people in the Northern Ireland and Ireland”.'

 

[Metal Biker]

Speedboat compared with a tanker, I like it ;)

We're now going to have pages of comparisons about which is better and why being a tanker is best.

 

[mcfc1632]

SHUSH, don't mention S.M they don't like it, learn grom Boris call it the Norther Ireland deal.Just like he used Australia as code for no deal.

Why not go the whole hog and implement the unfettered backstop and tie the UK into vassalage in perpetuity ?

 

[west didsblue]

Why not go the fill hog and implement the unfettered backstop and tie the UK into vassalage in perpetuity ?

What do you call having to write to the EU for permission to relax restrictions on GB-NI trade? The unfettered backstop and your idea of vassalage sounds much less restrictive to our sovereignty.

 

[BobKowalski]

What do you call having to write to the EU for permission to relax restrictions on GB-NI trade? The unfettered backstop and your idea of vassalage sounds much less restrictive to our sovereignty.

The outcome of a deal tying the UK into vassalage in perpetuity?

They still don’t get what the UK has signed up to. We can relax trade restrictions by agreeing to align more closely with EU standards and procedures. We refuse to do this, or insist we want to diverge further, but this will thicken the GB/NI border and upset the DUP/Unionists. But this will also thicken the regulatory border between NI and RoI and potentially cause problems with the Nationalist community. It will also thicken the GB/EU border making life even more difficult for GB businesses.

Whatever we do has consequences. The tactic so far has been to deny these consequences and pretend they don’t exist, but eventually you run out of road and hit the wall.

 

[blueparrot]

What do you call having to write to the EU for permission to relax restrictions on GB-NI trade? The unfettered backstop and your idea of vassalage sounds much less restrictive to our sovereignty.

Well apparently allowing one part of the UK be tied into vassalage for perpetuity is all very good for that part, however not for some other parts.All I'm asking is for our part of the UK to be treated the same as another part. Not too much to ask in a United Kingdom, I'd have thought anyway.

 

[west didsblue]

Well apparently allowing one part of the UK be tied into vassalage for perpetuity is all very good for that part, however not for some other parts.All I'm asking is for our part of the UK to be treated the same as another part. Not too much to ask in a United Kingdom, I'd have thought anyway.

Not an unreasonable request. If it's good enough for NI it's good enough for the rest of us.