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The Bruges Group spearheaded the intellectual battle to win a vote to leave the European Union and, above all, against the emergence of a centralised EU state.
The Bruges Group spearheaded the intellectual battle to win a vote to leave the European Union and, above all, against the emergence of a centralised EU state.
Bruges Group Blog
Spearheading the intellectual battle against the EU. And for new thinking in international affairs.
During these awful and bleak times, I felt it would be the perfect opportunity to take a closer look to the careers of some political giants who don't get the recognition or remembrance they deserve. One of my greatest interests is political history and every Friday I shall publish an article outlining the career and some interesting facts about so...
Institute of International Monetary Research Analysis Professor Tim Congdon CBE is a member of The Bruges Group Academic Advisory Council A lot of interest has been drawn from my recent emails to my fellow macroeconomists and monetary analysts where I pointed out that bank deposits at US commercial banks soared in the fortnight to ...
During these awful and bleak times, I felt it would be the perfect opportunity to take a closer look to the careers of some political giants who don't get the recognition or remembrance they deserve. One of my greatest interests is political history and every Friday I shall publish an article outlining the career and some interesting facts about so...
First of all, may I say congratulations to Boris Johnson and Carrie Symonds who announced the birth of a healthy baby boy this morning, just after 10 am. It emerged last week that Britain would neither apply for, nor accept an extension, if offered, to the Brexit transition period from the EU. In his briefings, Chancellor Rishi Sunak set the ...
There is a lot of huff and puff today because the European Union failed to agree on a rescue package – there will be no bonds to bail out the superstructure and worst they have had to resort to accepting junk bonds as collateral because Italy will be downgraded. They cannot afford to lose the United Kingdom's budgetary contribution. The European Un...
The UK has been a leading shipping hub, and its EU membership has profoundly enhanced its role in trade. However, on 29nth March 2017, the UK submitted its willingness to withdraw from the UE operations (Brexit), meaning that it will now become the third party according to the EU rules. Shipping will be one of the greatly affected sectors sinc...
During these awful and bleak times, I felt it would be the perfect opportunity to take a closer look to the careers of some political giants who don't get the recognition or remembrance they deserve. One of my greatest interests is political history and every Friday I shall publish an article outlining the career and some interesting facts about so...
If it hadn't been for a massive improvement in technology, the world would have been a very different place right now. No one can deny that technological advancements in the seed industry have improved crop output and continue to suffice for the ever-increasing demand for food.The best part about technological advancements in the seed sector is, th...
Margaret Thatcher's Bruges Speech, 1988 on The Bruges Group YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqv8HF84EOs Today marks the death of our greatest peacetime leader, Margaret Thatcher, a woman who defined British politics for more than a generation. Elected as the first female leader of any major political party in the UK in 1975, su...
Just yesterday, the EU's President of the European Research Council, Mauro Ferrari, resigned over the EU's failure to act on his advice to set up a large scale, EU wide programme to combat COVID-19. Professor Ferrari only began the role at the turn of the year and submitted his resignation to the President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen...
Last Wednesday, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, celebrated 28 days in Number 11, following Sajid Javid's resignation, by presenting his budget to the House. This budget delivered by the Richmond MP is arguably the most favourable budget since the days of Nigel Lawson standing at the dispatch box outlining his financial forecasts and s...
If I had to attribute my entry onto the political stage to any individuals, it would be Mark Carney, George Osborne and Theresa May. Not because I was inspired by any of them but as a result, in the case Mrs. May, of her total ineptitude over Brexit and, in the case of the first two, the inordinate amount of nonsense they spouted in the run-up to a...
Analysis by Prof MLR Smith & Dr Niall McCrae Before the coronavirus pandemic, who knew that the country with the largest Chinese diaspora in Europe is Italy? The leather sofa in many a British living room may have arrived with the label 'Made in Italy' but was quite possibly sewn by Chinese hands in the employ of a Chinese company. Let us expla...
I would like to share with you the speech and presentation I made at The Bruges Group annual conference in London on the 7th March. Whilst the UK officially left the EU on 31 January, it remains in its Single Market [paying some £1 billion (net) a month], its Customs Union and subject to the supremacy of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJ...
Brexit has been the key topic of conversation for many people over the last three years, and since the deal was finalised towards the end of January, the property market has seen a huge increase due to market stability and confidence with investment. Those who are looking at UK property may find the impact of Brexit on the property market highly in...
Following the speeches of Mark Francois MP and Andrea Jenkyns MP, we are delighted to publish Professor Tim Congdon CBE's presentation to the Bruges Group annual conference on March 7th 2020. The Demographic Fate of Nations Women need to have 2.1 children on average in order to replace the current generation. Suppose that they have less than...
Andrea Jenkyns MP speech to The Bruges Group annual conference - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMXpkxsAW20 On Saturday 7th March, we were hugely honoured to be addressed by Deputy Chair of the ERG, Andrea Jenkyns MP, at our annual conference. Andrea is a staunch Brexiteer and friend of The Bruges Group, she was a more than vocal critic of...
Mark Francois MP's speech to The Bruges Group annual conference - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZWLTchiEus The Bruges Group were honoured to have The Rt. Hon. Mark Francois MP, Chairman of the ERG, address our annual conference at Buckingham Gate in London on Saturday 7th March. The Bruges Group conference proved, as ever, to be an immen...
Brexit is finally underway. By January 2021, the UK will be in a new position to help redefine itself in the world of global trading. Hopefully, it's going to put the country in a far more flexible economic environment. Free from the shackles of EU trading coffers, exciting times lie ahead, not only for businesses and their owners but for everyday ...
Brexit provides British agriculture with the chance of a lifetime. While the EU is desperately trying to find the money to prop up its ailing and corrupt Common Agricultural Policy, Britain can plan for a productive future. Free from the chains of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy, we can now consider how to feed ourselves, look after our c...
The European Union is facing one of its biggest challenges with the departure of one of its largest financial contributors in a midst of a widespread debt crisis. The United Kingdom on the other hand may have avoided one by implementing the 2016 referendum results thanks to Boris Johnson's thumping majority at the last General Election in Dece...
We are scheduled to begin what will hopefully be our last trade talks with the EU; I suspect we can be sure of a bumpy ride featuring the same of old EU tricks of deceit, mendacity, obfuscation, procrastination, threats and attempts to undermine our position through appeals to the Brussels 'Fifth Column' that is apparently still alive and well, and...
The look on my left leaning parents faces was a picture of horror as they stared down at my eight year old self, they looked at each other and said in shock and in unison: "Our son's a Conservative". My dear old dad, who I loved during all 84 years of his life, had been a member of the Communist Party in his youth, that was until they asked h...
What is the reason that makes college graduates earn significantly more than individuals without a college degree? What is the correlation between any country's economy and its schooling system? Understanding the existent link between a nation's education system of a nation and its performance economically is crucial for comprehending why some work...
Boris Johnson and the Conservatives winning a more than impressive 365 seats last December, it gives the PM a working majority, something we haven't seen since the close of the Blair/Brown era.It is fair to say that the next step of Brexit will soon be taken; having left the EU further delays for implementation legislation were not tolerated. But w...
The first part of this article describes my experience of aid, starting over 40 years ago in Africa, and then in the ex-Soviet Union. Some will hotly deny my conclusions, but their veracity is only too apparent in the current state of the world and the decline in western values. Part one deals with the background and part 2 illustrates it...
In Quentin Lett's estimable tome, 50 People Who Buggered Up Britain (2009), there was one surprising entry for a writer of such conservative leanings: Margaret Thatcher. The rationale for inclusion was her government's aggressive attitudes towards trades unions, especially the rough handling of striking miners at Orgreave in 1984, along with her lo...
The Brexit Agreement and regulatory checks affecting Northern Ireland By Simon McIlwaine An aspect of the Prime Minister's withdrawal agreement with the EU causes much anxiety among supporters of the UK's withdrawal and Northern Ireland in particular. Whether or not there is going to be any kind of internal UK border is causing great concern i...
On 24 June 2016, when the Brexit Referendum result was announced, I was thrilled. The Great British Public had voted to take back their nation and return to self-determination. However, my excitement swiftly dissipated, as in the following years, Brexit was progressively watered down and smear campaigns about Brexit, or 'Project Fear' as they becam...
We recently returned from a trip to S.E. Asia, mostly holiday, but meeting with some of my wife's clients too. Smog, created by Indonesian farmers' crop burning joined the humid heat to hang like a blanket over Bangkok, our first stop. The difference to late September London was a shock. Less of a shock was driving on the left and familiar names li...
This article was initially published on BrexitCentral https://brexitcentral.com/why-the-brexit-party-maintains-that-boris-johnsons-deal-is-not-brexit/ by Brexit Party MEP, Ben Habib Ben Habib believes there is an "understandable desire amongst many Brexiteers to accept Boris Johnson's deal". Everyone is battle weary, but it is pre...
Boris Johnson has really taken us on a ride here. The trick, ladies and gentlemen, was to make us believe that he intended to take us out of the European Union with or without a deal, even with the Benn Act and all will be revealed in time and it was. There was no way he could avoid the Benn Act so didn't just send one letter to the European Union ...
As I assume you know, the Benn Act, or more commonly known as the Surrender Act, isn't the most well thought out piece of legislation, as lined out by Chair of Lawyers for Britain Martin Howe QC at The Bruges Group 'Moment of Truth' event in Manchester during Conservative Party conference. This article will outline the loopholes that Boris Johnson...
The reaction of the European Union negotiators and heads of state to Prime Minister Johnson's recent slate of proposals for eliminating the Irish backstop has exposed a fundamental truth about the Brexit negotiation process. So long as the EU must consent to British proposals for leaving under Article 50 of the Treaty of the European Union, the EU ...
What's so good about free trade agreements? They make the rich richer, workers poorer, and they rob countries of the ability to plan. For decades we have been told that global free trade – where goods can be imported and exported without restrictions or tariffs – is the route to prosperity. Impressive international institutions have been const...
Authors: Ethan Thoburn, Charles Wynne and Luke Alsford There are plenty of people talking about no deal Brexit at the moment and with Boris Johnson looking ever more likely to deliver that, we at The Bruges Group thought we would put together sort of a fact sheet on No Deal and how it won't leave us on a so called cliff edge as lots of the me...
The same four-letter word is being constantly branded around by the media. Whether talking about Theresa May's legacy, or discussing Boris Johnson's new negotiation, it never fails to disappear. That four-letter word is "deal". Yet this "deal": offered by Brussels, sold by Theresa May, defeated by MPs; seems dangerously close to being reborn. This ...
The left were always solidly against the Common Market and remained so as it evolved through the EEC to EU. The reason was simple. Its rules stood in the way of a Socialist state. Blair, having defeated Clause 4, became an ardent advocate of the EU and repositioned Labour as a centre party. Labour has always been a target for extremist entryism and...
Interview with Alice Grant: 'Why People Support Brexit Series' - Bruges Group Blog By Ethan Thoburn https://www.brugesgroup.com/blog/alice-grant-interview-with-ethan After previously speaking to Brexit supporting student Alice Grant and then royal superfan and former Labour Party member Joseph Afrane, this episode I spoke to the organisers of the '...
Project Fear 3.0 has been in full swing since the summer as we approach 31st October 2019, the third date for leaving the EU. The unfortunate citizens of the UK who wish to leave the European Union have been fed wall-to-wall saturation coverage of how terrible Brexit will be. TV stations, newspapers, magazines and social media advertisements contin...
Initially published on 13th September and updated on 26th September With the Brexit pea soup not looking any clearer whatsoever, Boris Johnson's hopes of an early general election are fading by the minute as I type this and of course Parliament being prorogued from the evening of Monday 9th September until 14th October. It's interesting to se...
Our fight with Brussels does not end on the 31st of October. This wider conflict that Brexit represents is between sovereign nations and supranational organisations, between self-determination and central planning of the most wicked intention. In order to capitalise on our departure, we must first recognise a weakening, Brussels is tightening its ...
Over the past three or so years, us Brexiteers have been labelled with all sorts of names such as fascists and racists, among others. There is an ever-growing perception that we are all over 80, own grand estates and are on the far-right wing of the political spectrum; let me tell you we are not! I have spoken to people from all backgrou...
PDF to Full Speeches The following article and above PDF are speeches by Richard Tice MEP for the Brexit Party and also property businessman; Swedish-British billionaire businessman Johan Eliasch who is CEO of sportswear giant Head; Sir John Nott the former Secretary of State for Trade and Industry then Defence under Margaret Thatcher; ...
Today we'll know who our next Prime Minister will be, and Wednesday will see the Maybot's last PMQT before she heads off to formally resign to the Queen at Buckingham Palace on the afternoon. No matter who our next PM will be, either Boris Johnson or Jeremy Hunt, we need to rebuild that special relationship with our closest ally, America. We'...
The Scottish National Party's minority administration in Edinburgh is trying to contribute to the attempt to foil Brexit and the struggle to achieve sovereignty and independence for the whole of Britain. But it's not doing well… While efforts in the British parliament to halt our exit from the EU are being roundly defeated, pro-EU fervour has conti...
When we hear about gambling as it relates to Brexit, it's typically regarding betting on different outcomes. Inevitably, there have in fact been betting markets these past few years aimed at predicting when Brexit might happen, what it might look like, etc. What doesn't get as much attention though is the idea of what effect Brexit could have on th...
Switzerland and the European Union have begun open financial war with each other as the EU tries to force the country to sign the proposed Framework Agreement covering all aspects of the country's relations with the EU. The EU has been forced into a hardball approach to Switzerland because with Brexit still unresolved it cannot afford to be weak. I...
Here is the fantastic Sir John Redwood MP's article first published on Brexit Central (https://brexitcentral.com/a-determined-prime-minister-can-ensure-we-are-out-of-the-eu-by-31st-october/) outlining how the right man can take us out of the EU by 31st October. For too long we have witnessed this Parliament trying to delay or dilute Brexit. T...
As the Conservatives elect their replacement for Theresa May over the summer, it's worth looking back to see how crucial it is for a leader that is in line with grassroots views, and currently Euroscepticism is the overwhelming grassroots position among members. Ever since the Maastricht Treaty was signed in 1992 there has been a battle for a refer...
Artificial Intelligence is certainly an area of focus post Brexit, the sector of AI was worth around $1.2 trillion as of around 2018 with predictions from Zdnet.com estimating the growth of the AI business values to around $3.9 trillion by 2022, that's a huge amount for any sector; this roughly equates to a forecasted prediction of just over £3 tr...
The withdrawal agreement is not only unjustified but also not required. In the event of the UK's departure from the EU without a withdrawal agreement the EU itself has put in place measures to keep trade open. These range from agreeing to equivalence in financial services, access for hauliers, the continuation of flights, and the transport conventi...
Through the treachery of the government and MPs, Britain is in political and economic limbo. Instead of being free to taking back control, they have handed the future of the country over to the EU… Delay, and more delay. Britain is now going to be denied independence for up to 6 months longer, a total of three-and-a-half years after voting fo...
This article is a follow up to my previous post entitled 'Nissan, Felixstowe, Lettuces and Whisky' in which I proposed a system of refunding foreign importers of British exports for the import tariffs they will pay to their own governments after Brexit, thereby allowing our exports to continue unaffected. If nothing is done about this our exports w...
Click here to read the report Britain was a leader in international trade for centuries, long before the EU was even thought of. As an EU member state, the UK cannot now trade on our own terms with the rest of the world. Decisions are made for us, based on the interests of the EU 28 - not the UK.Today, the UK is still a member in its own righ...
Approaching the Wire at the Eleventh Hour I have written about Brexit for a number of months now and basically my message has been the same: keep our collective nerve and hold out for a good deal. By a 'good deal' I mean one that allows us free trade with the EU – nothing more. No shady 'backstops', no mealy-mouthed words that allow the 'reject pol...
At the end of January, I was interested to learn how the BBC's news website reported Italy's recession. It was not on their radar. Unsurprisingly, several scare stories were. One, by business editor Simon Jack, was headlined "No-deal Brexit to leave shelves empty warn retailers." My attention was grabbed, however, by a dramatic warning with a state...
The alternative to May's deal is not no Brexit but no deal. Britain could leave the EU on 29 March without a deal and trade with EU member countries on World Trade Organisation terms. These are the terms on which we trade with non-EU countries already, without falling off any cliff. No deal is Brexit. Her deal is no Brexit. 'No deal' merely means t...
Published on 7 January 2019, the Rt Hon Lord Peter Lilley and Cllr Brendan Chilton, Global Britain and Labour Leave outline the huge advantages to trade gained by leaving the EU on World Trade Organization terms. Far from 'crashing out' we will be 'cashing in'. We will keep our £39 billion. Even the House of Lords' heavily pro-Remain EU Financ...
I am sure we all understand the situation Nissan and other companies which export a majority of their UK production to the Eurozone will find themselves in after Brexit. They will face 10% tariffs by the EU on these exports, and it stands to commercial reason they would then be better off re-locating their production into the Eurozone, where they w...
The media is trumpeting a very scary tune about a 'no deal' Brexit. Perhaps it's the swansong in their dark and gloomy concert. There will be hurdles, but we in Britain, will use our initiative and people are always at our best when we have to use our initiative. For those who would like to rename 'no deal', the Bruges Group is welcoming suggestion...
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY by Roger Kendrick As the negotiations with the EU approach the October 2018 decision point, the Chequers proposals are being promoted on the generally accepted premise that the UK economy, and manufacturing industry in particular, has benefited from access to the Single Market. For this contention to be valid, the UK economy ...
Amidst the political fallout in the UK following the government's controversial draft Brexit deal, an equally important development in Ireland went relatively unnoticed. During the ruling Fine Gael party's annual conference, foreign minister Simon Coveney confirmed that Ireland has no plans to prepare infrastructure for a hard border with the UK, e...
Any sort of trade deal with the EU is bound to result in economic meltdown. Here's how and why. Author: John Poynton This graph shows our Balance of Payments Current Account – in effect our national profit and loss account, comprising mainly but not exclusively of trade – split into two separate components; our trade with the EU (the red line...
For centuries, wool was the mainstay of our economy; so vital that Edward III ordered his Lord Chancellor to sit on the woolsack. Export of raw wool financed trade and new towns. Flemish and Huguenot weavers fleeing European persecution added their skills. By the 16th century, English cloth dominated European markets. It provided the trade good use...
There has been a great deal of discussion about the EU's single market. The following is an extract from Chapter 2 of my recent book Brexit: the road to freedom, which I hope throws some light on the subject. Neither the British state nor the EU had ever published an assessment of the single market's effects. No trade association or business had ev...
In the context of Brexit, things would be so much tidier if it wasn't for Northern Ireland. The province not only obstinately voted Remain, but also inconveniently promises to bring with it a new, uniquely porous, EU land border. If somehow one could leave Northern Ireland as a member of the EU and have the frontier redrawn in the Irish Sea, life w...
Your Royal Highness, your Excellencies, Chairman, my Lords, Ladies and Gentlemen. Good afternoon. I wish to thank the Chairman and Ms Melissa Crawshay-Williams for their kind introduction and to congratulate and thank the members of our Council for their kindness, courtesy and professionalism in arranging this event. I wish to speak of the changing...
"Do you expect me to talk?" "No, Mr.Bond. I expect you to die" (1) In a book published in June of this year (Swift, 2018a) and a blog the following month, (Swift 2018b), I predicted that reaching a mutually-beneficial accord with the EU would be very difficult, if not impossible, as they have no desire to come to any form of agreement with us, havi...
The way in which the EU goes about producing the laws that bind the rest of us - whether our politicians like them or not - can be difficult to understand. If you're not intimately familiar with it, don't worry. You're in good company. If really interested, you'll find it in Arts.288-299 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, a tur...
A policy model for a clean Brexit - no queues at Dover, no Irish hard border Membership of the EU Customs Union and the (largely contrived) Irish border issue are once more on the front pages. After success in the Lords, Remainers smell blood and are slavering at the prospect of defeating the Government in forthcoming Commons votes. Given thi...
There are several indicators that the US economy is doing very well at the moment. According to a recent BBC report: "The US economy grew at its fastest pace in nearly four years in the second quarter, expanding at an annualised rate of 4.1%, official figures show. The gains were driven by strong consumer spending and a surge in exports"[1] In addi...
A report by Victoria Hewson, Senior Counsel of the IEA's International Trade and Competition Unit There are three main factors behind the fears in relation to medical provisions post-Brexit. Here we examine what the potential problems are and the available solutions: 1. New tariffs would raise prices It has been suggested that the prices of ...
Theresa May's dismissal of Boris Johnson's suggestion that technology could allow customs checks without physical infrastructure (to solve the Irish border issue) is perverse. Her claim that such systems do not yet exist is not true and one must query if Number 10 talks to anyone other than the Treasury. The UK was a pioneer of electronic clearance...
Like a broken clock, remainers are occasionally right. One example of this is the Irish border question which many leavers have ignored or dismissed for too long. While we don't believe this issue is as impossible to solve as remainers insist, it does require an appropriate amount of attention. So far, different proposals have been suggested to avo...
On the second anniversary of the successful Leave vote, Robert Oulds condemns Airbus, in receipt of £16 billion from the EU, and BMW, for choosing this day to advise the UK to stay in the single market and customs union. While the eurozone lurches from crisis to crisis, the UK has its highest rate of employment in history and we should look forward...
On the 5th of December 2017 the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union David Davis MP (speaking in a House of Commons debate) said: "She [The Prime Minister] said that there are areas in which we want to achieve the same outcomes, but by different regulatory methods. We want to maintain safety, food standards, animal welfare and employme...
The thing that first drew me to being opposed to our membership of the EU in 1991 was the realisation my elected Government was not in control of our country, that authority had passed to an offshore, unelected and unaccountable body. My awakening came through a letter written to the Chancellor of the Exchequer during the terrible recession o...
Bruges Group director Robert Oulds assured the possibility of a Brexit trade agreement in an interview with Jeremy Naylor on IG.com. It was one of the many issues discussed during last Friday's broadcast. Topics ranged from the cost of other trade agreements, need for deregulation, lower taxes, and passporting rights. The term "hard Br...
In my last blog post, I made my own personal views on transition clear and I also stated what the government had said that their views on transition were. To summarise, I personally believe that, if a free trade agreement (FTA) between the UK and the EU is agreed by midnight on 29th March 2019 and, if a subsequent transitional arrangement is deemed...
We are determined that Brexit, if when it eventually happens in earnest, delivers the change we need. One of these new approaches can be in defending British industry, along with its jobs and innovation from unfair actions. But why wait for Brexit? It can begin now!
Bombardier, a major employer in Britain, a new entrant in the plane market, is being threatened by a trade complaint brought by Boeing designed to keep it out of the US market.[i] Theresa May’s government must show that a post-Brexit Britain will use its new-found independence to stand up for UK jobs. A policy area where we would not have to live with pan-EU rules any more. British taxpayers give Boeing hundreds of millions of pounds in defence deals, while at the same time they’re trying to close British factories. That’s not the action of a trusted partner for this country.
Project Fear scaremongered more about financial services than anything else during the EU referendum campaign and this scaremongering has unfortunately continued after the Brexit vote. Remoaners and soft Brexiteers (those who want us to remain members of the European single market after Brexit) now tell us that the reason why there was not an imme...
Memorandums of Understanding, or exchange of notes/letters, can form a key part of the necessary transitional arrangements as the UK moves from being an EU member state to an independent nation.
Last month, an event occurred which got little fanfare, but is likely to have a significant effect on the future of the UK, especially after Brexit. What happened was that the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement has now entered into force.
10th March 2017
The Single Market
Lord Lamont, the former UK Chancellor of the Exchequer wrote in The Telegraph:
‘The single market is open to all advanced economies, in exchange for paying a relatively modest tariff of 3 to 4 per cent, something that evidently does not stop non-EU countries from selling within it.
‘Every developed country has access to the single market. The EU has a relatively low external tariff with the exception of certain goods such as agriculture.’[i]
The Bruges Group report What it Will Look Like: How leaving the EU and the Single Market can be made to work for Britain details the potential challenges the UK faces when it leaves the EU. The report also explains how these problems can be addressed by Her Majesty's Government, ahead of Theresa May's planned Brexit speech on Tuesday 17th January 2017.
Only by knowing the potential pitfalls can the Prime Minister hope to mitigate and eliminate the EU’s burdensome trade rules and bureaucracy. The UK can then take advantage of the global opportunities that await us.
Drawing upon decades of research and analysis, this report clearly explains how:
There is no such thing as a truly 'Hard Brexit' - but there are significant obstacles.
A UK-EU trade agreement, focused on tariff reduction and clearing customs, could take just 18 months to complete.
The UK's bargaining position is stronger than many commentators believe.
This report deals with the top ten issues of withdrawal from the EU. It explains that specific, easily reached agreements on the mechanics of trade in both goods and services will not only resolve any problems that may arise when exporting to the EU but such arrangements will also protect and enhance our trade with the EU.
Whichever form Brexit eventually takes, whether ‘hard’ or ‘soft’; most parties would like the transition to be as painless and smooth as possible. To ensure that the Brexit process runs seamlessly, the UK and the EEA countries could agree a time-limited transition deal as a temporary ‘stepping stone’ to the final outcome.
19th December 2016
The deal need not be an official treaty but could take the form of what is called a Memorandum of understanding or MoU.
As the UK government website states:
“An MoU records international "commitments", but in a form and with wording which expresses an intention that it is not to be binding as a matter of international law. An MoU is used where it is considered preferable to avoid the formalities of a treaty – for example, where there are detailed provisions which change frequently or the matters dealt with are essentially of a technical or administrative character; in matters of defence or technology where there is a need for such documents to be classified; or where a treaty requires subsidiary documents to fill out the details. Like a treaty, an MoU can have a variety of names and can also be either in the form of an exchange of notes or a single document. However, the formalities which surround treatymaking do not apply to it and it is not usually published. Confusingly some treaties are called memoranda of understanding. Although an MoU is not legally binding it should be no less carefully drafted than if it were a treaty, given that it is always the intention to perform all HMG's commitments, whether legally binding or not.”[1]
An MoU is an established device In public international law; less official that a treaty but more than a gentleman’s agreement. MoU’s can take various forms and can serve wildly different purposes. They can be short and cover one specific issue or be lengthy, covering a range of topics.
Any withdrawal agreement must look at these issues and find practical solutions to make sure that goods enter the EU as seamlessly as possible.
5th December 2016
Brexit negotiations must aim to prevent the complexities of trade slowing the free flow of goods after Britain leaves the EU. Any withdrawal agreement between the EU and the UK, must look at these complexities and find practical solutions to make sure that trade enters the EU as seamlessly as possible.
