Saddleworth2
Well-Known Member
why is the EU putting such importance on fishing? It must be political rather than economic to keep the French on side.Anywho moving on from 50p bits Barnier has been giving Member States the big pitch to sign off on phase 2 negotiations which in no particular order are
No negotiations other than through Barnier
No upsetting the balance with existing models of cooperation, specifically Norway and Switzerland
Level playing field with mechanism to enforce transgressions
Future deal dependent on deal over fishing
Security deal important but UK can no longer access the EU information database and systems currently used by British police. Also European Arrest Warrants will not apply in Germany etc as some countries do not permit extradition to non EU countries.
EU to decide on equivalence (financial services) and data standards.
Points to note. UK wants zero tariff/zero quota deal which not even Norway and Switzerland get across the board so we have to give a lot to get that. There will be a return to barriers on trade between UK and EU though it’s just a question now of how great the barrier. Services will be impacted most and EU will only mutually recognise professional qualifications that are in the EU’s interest (obvs) otherwise its host country rules to apply which will vary.
There will be custom border checks between GB and NI which Varadkar helpfully confirmed this morning.
No great surprises in any of this.
I can see it getting quite nippy. French will want access, UK will want frictionless trade to ensure our export market isn't damaged. Some compromises will be required.