Mediaboss Marketing

While the UK parliament has passed the EU withdrawal agreement and argued over whether Big Ben bongs at the moment of Brexit, the European Union has been sharpening its position for the next phase of talks.

Over this month, more than 200 EU diplomats have taken part in 11 seminars totalling more than 35 hours. Led by the team of the chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, the seminars, which conclude on Wednesday with a meeting of EU ambassadors, are intended to keep the bloc together, before difficult talks on the post-Brexit future relationship.

The EUs opening offer has been confirmed: the UK will be given a zero-tariff, zero-quota free-trade deal, in exchange for signing up to core EU standards to protect the environment, workers and consumers rights, and avoiding unfair state subsidies. Known as the level playing field, these standards are like a slogan through a stick of rock for the EU.

For now, it remains undecided whether that means following the precise letter of EU law or the UK being allowed to adopt equivalent standards. One source said that depended on the level of risk and size of the sector.

If any British government broke these terms, it would face fines. The EU is also insisting on independent regulators to uphold the agreement in the UK, although the role of the European court of justice remains unclear.

Some British commentators have argued the EU is guilty of the charge often levelled at the UK: trying to pick out the best bits of the UK-EU trading relationship, without accepting the consequences of Brexit.

The EU counters that it has made the UK an exceptionally generous offer. The EU does not have a zero-tariff, zero-quota, traditional free-trade agreement with any country in the world, so wants corresponding guarantees in return. EU governments fear that if UK firms are allowed free entry to the EU market without following rules, for example on chemicals, industrial pollution or worker safety, British firms will have an unfair advantage.

Trade is only one aspect of the upcoming talks. The EU envisages one single agreement with the UK, with two core parts: one on economic relations, including trade, but also energy, fish and transport. The second part will cover security, including police co-operation, data-sharing and external security. Notably, the EU sees security co-operation underpinned by the UKs membership of the European court of human rights, a body that predates the EU that is also a bete noire for British Eurosceptics.

The entire deal will be underpinned by one dispute settlement mechanism, although it is not clear how far this includes a role for the EU court of justice.

Because the EU is acting in its own interest. Maintaining the status quo on fishing rights is a top priority for the EUs Atlantic and North Sea coastal states. Barniers plan to link negotiations on fishing quotas to trade talks has general support from EU member states, according to an internal document.

In contrast, the EU does not see financial services as being up for negotiation: it will decide on whether financial firms in the City of London, such as banks and insurance companies, will be granted EU market access (equivalence). Likewise, the EU will make a unilateral decision on whether the UKs data-protection standards are deemed good enough for information exchange, when it issues an adequacy decision.

The EUs policy on allowing workers from the UK will depend on the British governments new migration policy, but Brussels hopes to strike special provisions for students and researchers. Similarly, the UKs participation in EU programmes, such as research and the Erasmus student exchange programme, will depend on whether the UK intends to take advantage of existing rules allowing non-EU countries to take part, if they pay into the budget.

Nobody knows, but the deadline is extremely tight. Talks are expected to begin at the end of next month, after the EU agrees its negotiating objectives on 25 February. That leaves as little as eight months to strike an agreement, because the final text needs to be put to MEPs for ratification by October or November (a procedural deadline that remains fuzzy). The latest internal document from the EU states (in red type) there is a cliff edge in many areas on 31 December 2020, if the two sides fail to reach an agreement, meaning no return to the status quo.

More:
What has the EU been up to in the run-up to Brexit? - The Guardian

Hungary, Poland, Romania, Croatia and Greece are the five EU countries that do not reach the 50 per cent threshold in the 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index.

The report released by the NGO Transparency International analysed 180 countries, and when it comes to the EU, the misuse of its funds is still a big issue.

The perceptions index was based in answers from 12 independent institutions specialised in governance and business climate.

Europeans taking to the streets to protest corruption in Romania and the Czech Republic.

And a report from Transparency International confirms that most post-communist EU member-states are not addressing the problem effectively.

"There is a lot of fraud committed with EU funds; involving EU funds, but it has been very difficult to tackle this effectively and one of the reasons is that all member states take a different approach. By having a single European Public Prosecutor that will be addressing and tackling these issues, I think we can be confident that it will be easier to take on these cases," Michiel van Hulten, Director of Transparency International EU told our reporter.

Also western powerhouses France and the UK are among the four countries that lost at least three points on the index since last year.

There is some good news though - Spain improved by four points and Greece by three on the index, although Greece is still in the bottom half of the global ratings.

Transparency International focused this year's report on the risks of private entities financing political parties.

It lists Malta as a country to watch closely since it dropped six points since 2015, not to mention the murder of the anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia remaining unsolved.

One MEP from the European Parliament's Budget Control committee says the EU should intervene.

"If we have lobbies financing some political parties, the people elected will afterwards feel that they owe them something in return; and it is the beggining of corruption. So clearer rules about the financing of political parties," says Michle Rivasi of the French Green party.

The EU is trying to support whistle-blowers and to help fight corruption by adopting a directive that gives them more protection. But the move may still struggle to be effective.

"Whistle-blowers do play a key role and they do deserve protection. But there again, we know what the regulation should be. But there is the matter of translating that regulation into action, into practice in our member states. That passage from the theory to the practice is something that we are looking for," explains Gianluca Esposito, Executive Secretary of "Group of States against Corruption" (Council of Europe).

And it could be two years before the directive is effective.

Go here to see the original:
The Brief: corruption still a major issue in European Union - Euronews

Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar says Britain's "colonial history" meant it misunderstood Ireland in Brexit talks and mistakenly thought that the UK and the European Union's other bigger countries would tell Dublin "what's what."

Speaking to the the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg, Varadkar said a "lot of people" both in Westminster and Britain don't "understand Ireland" and "underestimated the fact that European partners will stay by" Ireland in Brexit talks.

Varadkar said: "You know, Britain has a very powerful history, a very colonial history.

"And I think there were people in Britain who thought that France, Germany and Britain would get together at a big summit and tell the small countries what's what."

"That's not the way the 21st century works, that's certainly not the way the European Union works."

Prime Minister Boris Johnson was able to make a breakthrough with Taoiseach Varadkar and the other EU leaders in October after months of deadlock over the question of how to preserve the seamless border on the island of Ireland.

Attention now turns to the future relationship between the UK and the EU, with negotiations on a future trade deal set to get underway in March.

Varadkar said "the reality of the situation" is that the EU will have the upper hand in trade talks.

"I think the reality of the situation is that the European Union is a union of 27 member states. The UK is only one country," the Irish leader said.

"And we have a population and a market of 450 million people. The UK, it's about 60. So if these were two teams up against each other playing football, who do you think has the stronger team? So long as we're united."

The EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier (left) alongside Leo Varadkar. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne

Both sides have less than a year to negotiate new trading arrangements, with Prime Minister Johnson saying he will not in any circumstances extend the Brexit transition period beyond December 2020.

Varadker said he didn't agree with Johnson's claim that there would be "bags of time" to strike a deal, warning that any deal will probably need to go through the "messy" process of being ratified by several European parliaments.

He told the BBC: "So, unlike the Withdrawal Agreement which had to be passed by the House of Commons on the European Parliament, this might have to be passed by the 27 parliaments of all the different member states.

"And that's where it gets messy."

"That's where one country can hold things up, or two countries can, and potentially that might be the reason as to why we may need an extension for another year in order to allow parliaments around Europe, maybe where there are elections happening, who knows, to have a bit more time to consider it."

Varadkar predicted that the biggest flashpoint in talks would be around what is dubbed "level playing field."

The EU says it will only give the UK tariff and quote-free access to European markets if Johnson's government agrees in writing to follow a common set of standards covering the environment, production, labour, and other areas. However, Johnson has said the UK will not commit to a level playing field with the EU after Brexit.

Varadkar said "there's a genuine concern across the European Union, that part of the motivation behind Brexit was for the UK to undercut us in terms of environmental standards, labour standards, product standards, food standards, all of those things.

"Now when I meet Prime Minister Johnson he says, no absolutely not that's not the kind United Kingdom that I want to need as prime minister.

"But we want that written down in law, we want that in a treaty so that we know that the UK will not be undercutting the EU with lower standards."

See the original post:
The UK's 'colonial' view of the world means it will lose to the EU in Brexit trade talks says Leo Varadkar - Business Insider

LONDON With Brexit just days away, Britons are fighting over the chimes of Big Ben. And the White Cliffs of Dover are a battleground.

As the United Kingdom prepares to leave the European Union on Friday, people are divided over how to mark a historic moment that some are relishing but others are dreading.

Britain's 2016 referendum on EU membership split the country: 52% opted to leave the 28-nation bloc, 48% voted to remain. The intervening years of political wrangling over the departure terms have not healed the divide.

For pro-Europeans, departure at 11 p.m. Friday will be the melancholy moment that Britain abandons a project that brought once-warring nations together, created a vast free-trading zone of half a billion people and let Europeans study, work and live across the continent.

For Brexit supporters, it will be the instant the U.K. once again becomes a sovereign nation after 47 years of membership in the bloated, bureaucratic EU club.

"It's a momentous occasion," said Brexit Party chairman Richard Tice, who plans to join party leader Nigel Farage and thousands of supporters for a party outside Parliament on Friday night. "It's a great celebration of the democratic will. And it's right to celebrate it."

Organizers are promising music, songs, speeches, a light show and a New Year's Eve-style countdown in the shadow of Parliament's clock tower. But, to their chagrin, Brexit probably won't be marked by the sound of the giant Big Ben bell, whose hourly bongs are a world-famous symbol of British democracy.

FILE - In this Tuesday, April 17, 2018 file photo, scaffolding surrounds the Queen Elizabeth Tower, which holds the bell known as Big Ben, in London. The bell of Britains Parliament has been largely silent since 2017 while its iconic clock tower undergoes four years of repairs. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, file)AP

Big Ben has been largely silent since 2017 while the clock tower is being repaired, and House of Commons authorities said bringing it back for one night could cost as much as 500,000 pounds ($654,000).

Undaunted, Brexiteers launched a crowdfunding campaign, encouraged by Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who said "we're looking at whether the public can fund it." But Johnson's Downing Street office quickly distanced itself from the idea, and Commons authorities made it clear they considered it impractical to have Big Ben bong for Brexit.

Tice chided "the bureaucratic blob" for hobbling the plan. But never fear: "We have a Plan B."

"We will play the sound of Big Ben chiming, that wonderful sound, loudly through our excellent speaker system," he said. "And in 50 years' time ... this will be the image of the U.K. leaving the European Union (on) 31st January 2020.

"It'll be a sense of coming together, of pride, of patriotism, of belief in our country."

Many Britons don't share his excitement.

"Spending half a million pounds to ring a few bells is just silly. People who want to do it are off their trolley, frankly," said Tony Greaves, a Liberal Democrat member of the House of Lords.

Greaves warned colleagues this week that many people especially the more than 3 million citizens of other EU countries who live in Britain feel a sense of loss "akin to bereavement" about Brexit.

"A lot of people will not be celebrating. They'll be feeling very sad and very glum," he said. "People are saying we want to bring the country together now after the division. This is the last possible way to do it."

A suggestion that church bells should ring, as they did to mark the end of two world wars, also struck a discordant note. The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers stressed that it "does not endorse bell ringing for political reasons."

Debate also is raging in the English Channel port of Dover, where a pro-EU politician, Liberal Democrat Antony Hook, has raised more than 13,000 pounds ($17,000) to plaster a huge "We still love EU" banner on the famous White Cliffs on Brexit day.

Dover's pro-Brexit Conservative lawmaker, Natalie Elphicke, has suggested instead a banner proclaiming, "We love the U.K.," accompanied by a fireworks display that could be seen from France, 32 kilometers (20 miles) away.

The European Union flag, right, and Britain's Union flag hang above the European Parliament Liaison Office in London, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2020. Britain will leave the European Union on Jan. 31.(AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)AP

Britain's entry into what was then the European Economic Community at the start of 1973 was marked by similar ambivalence. The country was divided on the issue, and there were quiet demonstrations by activists on both sides, but, at least immediately, no major festivities.

"Britain passed peacefully into Europe at midnight last night without any special celebrations," The Guardian newspaper reported on Jan. 1, 1973. "It was difficult to tell that anything of importance had occurred."

Almost half a century on, Johnson's Conservative government must balance its own enthusiasm for Brexit with the knowledge that half the country opposes the decision to walk away from the EU.

The prime minister is scheduled to make a televised address Friday evening, stressing unity and the healing of divisions. As 11 p.m. approaches, government buildings will be lit up and a countdown clock projected onto the black bricks of the prime minister's 10 Downing St. residence.

Historian Margaret MacMillan urged the government to avoid a tone of triumphalism. She said if ever there were a time for British understatement, this is it.

"It is not a time for celebration. It is a time for reconciliation," said MacMillan, a University of Toronto professor whose books include "Dangerous Games: The Uses and Abuses of History."

"If the prime minister really wanted to be prime ministerial, he could say, 'Look, we've had a long, difficult disagreement, but let's sit down and be friends again,' and just have a tea party or something," she said. "I think low-key is better."

___

Jill Lawless of The Associated Press wrote this story. AP video journalist Jo Kearney contributed to this story.

___

Follow APs full coverage of Brexit and British politics at https://www.apnews.com/Brexit

Visit link:
Britain remains divided ahead of this weeks exit from European Union - PennLive

Media playback is unsupported on your device

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has suggested the EU will be the "stronger team" in post-Brexit trade talks with the UK.

Comparing negotiations to a football match, he suggested to the BBC that the EU would be at an advantage due to its larger population and market.

The taoiseach said he did not think the UK had "yet come to terms with the fact it's now a small country".

Boris Johnson said he would be able to "wrap this all up" by the end of 2020.

Mr Varadkar held talks with EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier on Monday.

Speaking after the meeting, Mr Barnier told reporters the two sides faced "the risk of a cliff edge" if trade terms were not agreed by the end of the post-Brexit transition period in December.

He cautioned that a "very short time" remained to "rebuild" the UK-EU relationship.

In an interview earlier with BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg, Mr Varadkar also said striking a deal in this timeframe was possible but would be "difficult".

He pledged the EU would not be "dragging its feet," but added: "My assessment is that it is more likely that we will need an extension in order to finalise a free trade agreement and future economic partnership than not need it."

Media playback is unsupported on your device

Mr Johnson, however, said he had to "respectfully disagree" with his Irish counterpart's doubts, insisting a deal can be reached "in the time we've got".

The UK PM added: "We've got until the end of the year, but we will be doing things very fast, and in a very friendly, respectful way."

Mr Johnson has insisted he is not open to any extension.

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that from the UK side, trade talks will be led by a 40-person "task force" headed by the PM's Europe adviser David Frost.

Media playback is unsupported on your device

Mr Varadkar, the leader of the Fine Gael party, is fighting his first election campaign as taoiseach. Ireland heads to the polls on 8 February.

He told the BBC: "The European Union is a union of 27 member states. The UK is only one country. And we have a population and a market of 450 million people.

"The UK, it's about 60[m]. So if these were two teams up against each other playing football, who do you think has the stronger team?"

He also cautioned the UK against trying to negotiate individual deals covering different sectors of the economy.

"The final deal, the new relationship will have to be comprehensive," he said.

"When I hear people talk about piecemeal, it sounds a bit like cake and eat," he said, adding: "That isn't something that will fly in Europe."

"You may have to make concessions in areas like fishing in order to get concessions from us in areas like financial services."

Mr Varadkar said there was "genuine concern" across Europe that the UK would seek to "undercut" EU standards after Brexit.

"When I meet Prime Minister Johnson he says, no, absolutely not - that's not the kind of United Kingdom that I want to lead as prime minister."

But he added: "We want that written down in law, we want that in a treaty."

Mr Varadkar said both sides would have to agree a "common set of minimum standards" for an agreement to be possible.

But this is likely to be a contentious area of talks, with British ministers having insisted the UK should have the right to move away from EU regulations.

Another potential flashpoint is likely to be access to fishing waters, which both sides have pledged to sort out before the end of June.

Leaked slides from an EU presentation last Friday said the bloc would be aiming for the same level of access to British fishing stocks it has now, and would not sign a wider trade deal until fishing access has been agreed.

But the UK government insists it will "take back control" of its waters.

A leaked slide presentation from a meeting last Friday has revealed more of the EU's objectives in the upcoming trade talks.

Diplomats from national governments agreed that commitments by the UK to maintaining a level playing field - i.e. not undercutting other EU nations for competitive advantage - are a "precondition" for a deal. There should also be a role for the European Court of Justice in any deal to protect EU law.

The EU will pursue what it calls a "comprehensive approach" to the negotiations and there will be "trade-offs between chapters" i.e. give-and-take across different areas of the deal.

The EU will expect to be treated as a single bloc, so the UK will not, for example, be able to offer something to Germany that it doesn't offer to everyone else. In case of future disputes with the UK, there would be the possibility for "cross-retaliation" where a disagreement in one sector sees the EU retaliating in another.

EU sources say they want to build a relationship with the UK that is balanced and sustainable, where neither side "feels taken for a ride".

Read more:
Varadkar: EU will have stronger team in trade talks with UK - BBC News