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Casino campaign hires firm behind European Union exit effort News & Observer A campaign to persuade voters to approve a southern Maine casino has reported getting assistance from a firm that helped persuade British voters to withdraw from the European Union. Progress for Maine PAC has reported paying more than $80,000 to ... and more »

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Casino campaign hires firm behind European Union exit effort - News & Observer

Using a hypothetical Finnish exit of the eurozone, the report detailed the surprisingly low cost of quitting the euro and highlighted the benefits of having a domestic currency.

And economists suggested the best way to leave the euro would be if a members joined together in secret to ambush the European Union and quit en masse, which would prevent spiteful punishment.

Although the reports authors stressed it was politically neutral - adding it was neither advocating or discouraging an exit but merely highlighting the need to investigate the issue - it nonetheless threw light on the positives of leaving the eurozone.

The report, entitled How to leave the eurozone: The Case for Finland, said an exit could lead to noticeable benefits for the country.

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They began by stating the cost of quitting the Eurozone need not be very large, perhaps just 9.1billion (10bn), and urged EU members to weigh the short-term costs of an exit again the possible long-term benefits of having a domestic currency.

And they said having their own currency would improve the democratic control of the country.

The report, put together by seven Finnish economists, said: After the Greek crisis in the Summer of 2015, it has been silently acknowledged that a country can abandon the euro.

[In some areas] countries have had persistent problems with the implementation of structural measures, e.g., improving economic structures, and fiscal and other economic policies.

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A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of stock prices

In the long run, Finlands exit from the euro could lead to noticeable benefits

Report

Previous studies into countries quitting currency unions, they said, found exits have not produced any noticeable short-term fluctuations in key economic variables including GDP, investments and government budgets.

The report continued: In the long run, Finlands exit from the euro could lead to noticeable benefits. If redenomination was successful, her foreign net position could, over time, improve considerably.

Finlands euro membership has provided Finnish small and medium sized businesses access to European goods and financial markets without exchange rate risk. Still, there is no point in denying the benefits Finland and her companies would gain from a rapid adjustment to relative cost shocks through its own floating currency.

The benefits of not being a part of the euro area also include stepping out from the tendency toward increasing political federalism and reclaiming democratic control over domestic affairs."

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If multiple countries quit the currency together, this would reduce the shared impact and also diminish the extent to which the EU could punish countries who dared to cut ties, the authors said.

The report said: Countries and country groups sufficiently large to destabilise the EU are likely to be provided with the option of continued access to joint systems.

Small countries may not be offered such terms, particularly if lessons need to be taught to dissuade followers.

[But] legally, there is no clause in European treaties allowing the expulsion of a country from the EU or the EMU.

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The report concluded by urging the Finnish government, along with other EU governments, to seriously look into quitting the eurozone - if only to be suitably prepared in the case of an inevitable collapse.

It said: The intention of this report is not to argue whether Finland should continue her membership in the euro. We have envisaged one possible path out of the euro, which may be considered an alternative to the ever louder calls for further integration. It is also a sign of great ignorance to say that political constructions like the euro cannot fail. At some point, they always will, and political moods dictating their fate can change surprisingly quickly, as we have seen recently.

Benjamin Franklin was quoted as saying: By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. After the near miss exit of Greece, this should be the guiding principle of every member of the European common currency. If (when) the breakup or exit of a country or countries from the euro occurs, those not prepared will be the hardest hit. The authors of this report hope that Finland will not be among them.

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Eurozone EXODUS - Economists reveal THIS is how easy it is to quit EU's failing currency - Express.co.uk

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain on Wednesday said it had sent dozens of letters telling European Union nationals to leave the country in error, an embarrassing mistake as the issue of the rights of such citizens in the UK is being negotiated.

Britain's interior ministry said it was investigating after around 100 of the letters were sent to citizens from other European Union countries, saying they would be removed under immigration law.

"A limited number of letters were issued in error and we have been urgently looking into why this happened. We are contacting everyone who received this letter to clarify that they can disregard it," a spokeswoman for the Britain's Home Office said in a statement.

"We are absolutely clear that the rights of EU nationals living in the UK remain unchanged."

Eva Johanna Holmberg, a Finnish academic who is married to a Briton, told The Independent newspaper that she "couldn't believe what she was seeing" when she received the letter.

While Britain has promised a generous deal for EU citizens following Brexit, there is not yet agreement over how rights will be protected.

The rights of EU citizens in Britain is one of three issues the bloc wants to settle before it begins discussing the future relationship between Britain and the EU. The EU says more progress on those core issues needs to be made before talks move on.

Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg

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In error, Britain tells dozens of EU citizens to leave - Reuters

The European Union (EU) is confused and puzzled about Britains post-Brexit trade plans, Irelands Taoiseachorprime ministersaid, as he accused the UK Government of having unrealistic demands.

Leo Varadkar, who took office in June, was speaking during a trip to Canada where he met with the country's prime minister,Justin Trudeau,andvisited the countrys border with the US as part of a fact-finding mission to look at options for the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland after Brexit.

I think Id be right to say on behalf of the European governments that were not satisfied with the progress that has been made so far, hetoldBloomberg. However, well continue with the talks.

We hope that more progress can be made and that that progress will be sufficient when we meet in October to allow the talks to continue to the next phase, but to date the progress has not been sufficient.

The Irish leader also called on the UK Government to clarify what kind of trade deal it hopes to reach with the EU and said the lack of clarity was delaying talks.

Where were confused and puzzled is...on what trade agreement the United Kingdom wants with the European Union, he said.

At the moment they have the best trade deal possible the best one imaginable which is a customs union and access to the European Single Market and the European Economic Area.

What they seem to have been suggesting for the last 14 months is that they want to have all the advantages of being in the EU but none of the responsibilities and costs. Thats not a realistic position, so were waiting to see what they would like to see.

He added: Its not clear to us what the deals are that the British Government really wants from Europe and from other countries, and I think some more clarity in that area would be very helpful.

Mr Varadkhar said EU states were also keen to know what will happen to EU citizens who want to move to live with relatives in the UK. The British Government has refused to give concrete guarantees about the rights of EU citizens.

Another sticking point during talks has been the size of the Brexit bill that Britain will pay when it leaves the EU.

Theres no agreement yet on the amount of money that Britain will be paying, Mr Varadkar said. It does have outstanding legal obligations, for example pensions paid to European civil servants, many of whom are British.

Despite the delays, he said he was satisfied with proposals to allow British and Irish citizens to move freely between the two countries after Brexit and reassured by the UKs commitment to the peace process in Northern Ireland.

There must not be a trade border introduced on the island, he added.

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EU is 'confused and puzzled' about UK's post-Brexit trade plans, says Irish PM - The Independent

Photo Credit: Andrew McIntire / TPS

The European Union has warned Israel that some agricultural exports to Europe will be cut at the beginning of 2018 if Jerusalem does not take measures to stop the spread of the false codling moth, an agricultural pest that is known to attack more than 70 fruit and vegetable species, including citrus fruit, pomegranate, avocado, mango, guava, corn, cotton and more.

Historically, the moth has been found mainly in Africa, but in recent years has caused increasing damage in Israel as well.

The Ministry of Agriculture said in a statement that several climate variants in Israel makes the pest difficult to kill, including the fact that the moth is active year-round, that it lives and breeds quickly on several different species, and that it is difficult to identify eggs or to know when the bugs have gotten into the fruit.

Further complicating matters for Israeli exporters, European Union regulations require the use of environmentally-friendly pesticides that are not very effective.

Agricultural authorities in Europe, North America and Asia have blocked entry to a large number of shipments from Israel over the past year due to concerns over the false codling moth, leading to the EU demand to ramp up measures to fight the pest.

According to the European demand, Israel will have to show a new protocol for fighting the pest and exporters who fail to comply with the new regulation will not be allowed to export their products to Europe.

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Agricultural Pest Threatens Israeli Exports to European Union - The Jewish Press - JewishPress.com