This makes grim reading
#1
#2

#3
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Add to it Merkel's latest comments :
https://www.theguardian.com/politics...ssadors-summit
https://www.theguardian.com/politics...ssadors-summit
#5
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I suspect if negotiations had lasted five more years there wouldn’t be agreement.
three sticking points.
state aid e.g. France propping up their car industries
How disputes would be resolved ( ECJ?)
Fishing rights. I have to smile on this as it affects only a miniscule amount of workers of the 500 million. Of course it is all about the principle and not the practice.
Fortunately on both sides of the channel the affects of no deal or whatever happens in four months will be miniscule compared to the affect actions taken by most governments to combat CV19. We havent even seen the real affect of that yet.
three sticking points.
state aid e.g. France propping up their car industries
How disputes would be resolved ( ECJ?)
Fishing rights. I have to smile on this as it affects only a miniscule amount of workers of the 500 million. Of course it is all about the principle and not the practice.
Fortunately on both sides of the channel the affects of no deal or whatever happens in four months will be miniscule compared to the affect actions taken by most governments to combat CV19. We havent even seen the real affect of that yet.
#6
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Level playing field I think is the biggest sticking point.
I think the main driver for Brexit was that Gove & Co want free ports, massive deregulation etc which under EU rules would never have been permissible.
The EU obviously doesn't want to give preferential market access to a low regulation competitor on their doorsteps.
The UK is acting surprised and incredulous at this but that surely is an act. It must have expected the EU to react that way. It was probably hoping the EU would cave in but it must have known there was a fair chance it wouldn't and no cave in = no deal. If it wasn't expecting that then it really is as stupid as it looks.
The EU has already hinted it could be flexible on dispute resolution and fishing. Something could have been cobbled together on state aid. But it can't compromise on the level playing field without disadvantaging its own members and especially France and Germany where there is a big focus on workers rights etc, and it's not going to do that.
I think the main driver for Brexit was that Gove & Co want free ports, massive deregulation etc which under EU rules would never have been permissible.
The EU obviously doesn't want to give preferential market access to a low regulation competitor on their doorsteps.
The UK is acting surprised and incredulous at this but that surely is an act. It must have expected the EU to react that way. It was probably hoping the EU would cave in but it must have known there was a fair chance it wouldn't and no cave in = no deal. If it wasn't expecting that then it really is as stupid as it looks.
The EU has already hinted it could be flexible on dispute resolution and fishing. Something could have been cobbled together on state aid. But it can't compromise on the level playing field without disadvantaging its own members and especially France and Germany where there is a big focus on workers rights etc, and it's not going to do that.
#7
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Leave means leave. If they want to trade with us, then they do it on our terms. Who else is going to buy all those shiny new German cars, French wine, Spanish fruit...etc
The EU has NEVER been a level playing field. Ireland has low Corporation Tax, and Luxembourg is a well known dodgy tax haven.
What gets me annoyed here is the fact that the British have paid for all the Spanish motorways....and I STILL have to pay at the toll booth....
Spain before it joined the EU was a thirld world country...much like Ireland......oh how they have milked it.......all paid for by us.
The EU has NEVER been a level playing field. Ireland has low Corporation Tax, and Luxembourg is a well known dodgy tax haven.
What gets me annoyed here is the fact that the British have paid for all the Spanish motorways....and I STILL have to pay at the toll booth....
Spain before it joined the EU was a thirld world country...much like Ireland......oh how they have milked it.......all paid for by us.
#8
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Joined: Jan 2020
Posts: 237












Johnson, Gove, Cummings must surely now feel their ace card ( Brexit) is not quite as popular as before the election. Boris couched everything in terms of Brexit as a way of asserting his authority and demonstrating what he believed was leadership. Since Covid19 everything has changed and for this government it couldn't have been worse. They have been badly exposed as a party that lacks the cool calm sensible approach that the country needs. Every U turn indicates a failing and can not be simply credited as sufficient because someone is being honest about a mistake. Governments do not last long who make persistent mistakes. Even stalwart Brexit loving broadsheets seem to have toned down their flag waving utterances. No serious commentator is really championing a no deal endgame on 31st December. If they are, then the narrative is no longer how the UK will grow and prosper as a international player but more the hope that Europe suffers some apocalyptic catastrophe dragging its members into a living hell. Not really an argument is it? Boris knows that with no deal the uk's weakened economy will be squeezed by a decision that could have been avoided by him and his popularist cronies. For a prime minister who has been revealed to be the sensationalist journalist he was with a propensity to rough ride details in favour of the big emotional picture he now finds himself skating on very thin ice.
#9
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Leave means leave. If they want to trade with us, then they do it on our terms. Who else is going to buy all those shiny new German cars, French wine, Spanish fruit...etc
The EU has NEVER been a level playing field. Ireland has low Corporation Tax, and Luxembourg is a well known dodgy tax haven.
What gets me annoyed here is the fact that the British have paid for all the Spanish motorways....and I STILL have to pay at the toll booth....
Spain before it joined the EU was a thirld world country...much like Ireland......oh how they have milked it.......all paid for by us.
The EU has NEVER been a level playing field. Ireland has low Corporation Tax, and Luxembourg is a well known dodgy tax haven.
What gets me annoyed here is the fact that the British have paid for all the Spanish motorways....and I STILL have to pay at the toll booth....
Spain before it joined the EU was a thirld world country...much like Ireland......oh how they have milked it.......all paid for by us.
Last edited by Moses2013; Aug 27th 2020 at 3:18 pm.
#12
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You mean some politicians in the EU. If it was the EU then all member states would be asking for a level playing field but that's clearly not the case and will never happen.
#13
Forum Regular



Joined: Jan 2020
Posts: 237












Leave means leave. If they want to trade with us, then they do it on our terms. Who else is going to buy all those shiny new German cars, French wine, Spanish fruit...etc
The EU has NEVER been a level playing field. Ireland has low Corporation Tax, and Luxembourg is a well known dodgy tax haven.
What gets me annoyed here is the fact that the British have paid for all the Spanish motorways....and I STILL have to pay at the toll booth....
Spain before it joined the EU was a thirld world country...much like Ireland......oh how they have milked it.......all paid for by us.
The EU has NEVER been a level playing field. Ireland has low Corporation Tax, and Luxembourg is a well known dodgy tax haven.
What gets me annoyed here is the fact that the British have paid for all the Spanish motorways....and I STILL have to pay at the toll booth....
Spain before it joined the EU was a thirld world country...much like Ireland......oh how they have milked it.......all paid for by us.
I assume you are a Spanish person who feels angry that your government charges for roads kindly built by the UK.
#15
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Joined: Mar 2017
Location: Buda
Posts: 6,170












Leave means leave. If they want to trade with us, then they do it on our terms. Who else is going to buy all those shiny new German cars, French wine, Spanish fruit...etc
The EU has NEVER been a level playing field. Ireland has low Corporation Tax, and Luxembourg is a well known dodgy tax haven.
What gets me annoyed here is the fact that the British have paid for all the Spanish motorways....and I STILL have to pay at the toll booth....
Spain before it joined the EU was a thirld world country...much like Ireland......oh how they have milked it.......all paid for by us.
The EU has NEVER been a level playing field. Ireland has low Corporation Tax, and Luxembourg is a well known dodgy tax haven.
What gets me annoyed here is the fact that the British have paid for all the Spanish motorways....and I STILL have to pay at the toll booth....
Spain before it joined the EU was a thirld world country...much like Ireland......oh how they have milked it.......all paid for by us.
