British negotiators have capitulated to key European demands for a phased approach to Brexit talks, agreeing to park discussions on free trade until they have thrashed out the cost of the multibillion-euro UK divorce settlement.Right. The EU is signaling that they are going to play hardball. Toljaso.
Putting a brave face on a concession that may further strengthen the tactical dominance of the EU, the Brexit secretary, David Davis, insisted his initial retreat remained consistent with long-term government strategy. “It’s not how it starts, it’s how it finishes that matters,” Davis said in Brussels after their first day of formal talks. “Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.”
The problem for the Brits is that they don't have a lot of leverage that would seem to be apparent. PM May called snap elections in a bid to strengthen her hand, but it had the opposite effect. She's leading a coalition, now, which may have the lifespan of an Italian one.
If the EU had balls, they'd start building the border control checkpoints right now of a kind that would make Trump green with envy..
2 comments:
In the end, the EU has some pretty big problems too. This isn't a slam dunk on either side, while the EU is definitely in the stronger position. Just a few:
1) Irish border, a hard border will trash the economy in The Republic.
2) Financial markets, "moving" the clearing houses can be done, but the expected cost toward everyday business is not insignificant if they move their portion to, say, Frankfort. A good bit of the financial business of the world will remain in London, and the separation of these function will significantly increase the cost of transaction clearing.
3) The requirement for, in some cases, sub-National approval of elements of the agreement.
4) The fears in Germany of French dominance of the EU and in France of German dominance of the EU. This matches with the rest of the EU fearing no counter-weight to France and/or Germany.
5) The French demands to drop English as an official EU language is not business friendly.
Then there's the whole "common currency without a common government" thing, and all of the economic shackles that come with it during downturns- especially downturns that don't affect the whole union at once...
-Doug in Oakland
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