Finance & Trade

UK Official Threatens to Hold Back EU “Divorce” Payment

August 01, 2018

Business Insider reports that UK Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab has threatened to withhold funds from the EU as part of the agreed Brexit “divorce bill” if the EU and UK fail to strike a trade deal during negotiations over Britain’s withdrawal from the bloc.
Rees-Mogg Predicts “No-Deal” Brexit

July 31, 2018

The Guardian reports that, following the EU’s critiques of the British government’s latest negotiating position, the head of the UK’s euroskeptic European Research Group Jacob Rees-Mogg has asserted that the likeliest outcome of the UK-EU Brexit negotiations is withdrawal from the bloc without a deal on customs or trade.
Barnier: UK Financial Market Demands Would Violate EU Law

July 31, 2018

Investment Week reports that the European Commission’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has warned that the UK government’s negotiating position on a Brexit deal calling for provisions permitting British financial service companies to retain enhanced access to EU markets would violate the EU’s “decision making autonomy.”
UK Officials Accept “Reciprocation” Amendments to Brexit Bill

July 27, 2018

The Guardian reports that the UK government has accepted amendments to its Brexit legislation prohibiting the government from striking a deal with the EU in which the UK would collect value-added tax (VAT) or duties on goods bound for the EU without the EU agreeing to reciprocate by collecting such taxes on behalf of Britain.
NGOs Accuse EU of Missteps on External Budget

July 27, 2018

A group of activist organizations has criticized the position of EU member states on the 2019 budget for proposing to reduce external aid focusing on “poverty and inequality” in developing countries, warning that the EU is “undermining its role as a global player in sustainable development with these inward-looking policies.”
EU Bank Invests $60 Million in South American Climate Action

July 26, 2018

The European Investment Bank, which asserts that it is “the world's largest financer of environmental investments,” has announced that it will invest $60 million in “climate change adaptation and mitigation” development projects in South America.
UK Lawmaker: EU Obstinacy Must Mean “No Deal” Brexit

July 12, 2018

UK Member of Parliament Craig Mackinlay argues that the UK government, recognizing that the EU institutions are not above inflicting damage on their members to maintain the integrity of the bloc during Brexit and to advance their integrationist mission, must immediately prepare for a “no-deal” Brexit as the “Global Option” for Britain.
UK Leader Triggers Blowback over “Common Rulebook” Plan

July 11, 2018

The BBC reports that UK Prime Minister Theresa May has divided her Conservative Party by adopting a Brexit negotiating position that would see the UK maintain a “common rulebook” with the EU, prompting resignations from her cabinet and critiques that such a plan would straitjacket UK trade policy.
Lawyer Critiques UK Plans to Remain in EU Internal Market

July 11, 2018

Victoria Hewson, a lawyer from the Institute of Economic Affairs in London, explains why UK government plans to remain in the EU’s internal market for goods are illusory given the result of the country’s Brexit referendum, as the EU would require the UK to accept all of its regulations as well as the principle of free movement in return for such access.
ECB Chief Seeks Eurozone Fund for Debt Crises

July 10, 2018

European Central Bank (ECB) President Mario Draghi recently called for a new "fiscal instrument" through which the ECB would provide government-backed relief to struggling eurozone governments facing penalties from investors during debt crises, as an "extra layer of stabilisation" aimed to continue EU economic convergence through large shocks.