Brexit News

Brexit News, Member News

Brexit: no cause for celebration

By Kevin Butler | Managing Director Ireland and the United Kingdom | TMF Group Businesses are deeply concerned about the UK’s future relationship with the EU, and with the Brexit deadline now fast-approaching, it’s time to start making contingency plans. You know the breathless media hype about Brexit has gone into overdrive when the countdown clock makes an appearance. Businesses don’t need a constant reminder of the impending deadline. They are not finding much reason to celebrate. In fact they are deeply concerned...

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Brexit News, Chapter News

UK Labour Stance on Brexit with be critical

BY JOHN BRUTON The worst possible outcome of Brexit for Ireland would be the UK crashing out of the EU, without a deal, next March because the UK Parliament cannot make a decision. The key to avoiding this disaster is in the position of the British Labour Party. So far, the focus of discussion in regard to Brexit has been on whether the minority Conservative Government can reach sufficient consensus internally, to make a deal to withdraw the UK from the EU. But...

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Brexit News, Chapter News, Trade & TTIP Related

EU and US Sanctions: Which Sovereignty?

This text is the outcome of a workshop with MARIEHÉLÈNE BÉRARD, investment banker, FARID FATAH, Ph.D. candidate in Law, PASCAL LAMY, President emeritus of the Jacques Delors Institute, LOUIS SCHWEITZER, Honorary Chairman of Renault, and PIERRE VIMONT, Senior Fellow at Carnegie Europe. If one accepts Jean-Claude Juncker’s last State of the Union speech in September 2018, “the time for European sovereignty has come.” As if to prove his case, Donald Trump affirmed this before the UN General Assembly a couple...

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Brexit News, Member News

The Weekly Vulcan View for the 29th of October to the 2nd of November featuring analysis of the latest EU developments

VULCAN VIEW - KEY EVENTS THIS WEEK: BREXIT  Brexit talks on financial services reveal continued divisions on tradeReports emerged this week that Brussels and London reached an agreement on financial services trading, causing the pound to rise significantly on Thursday. The question of the UK’s financial services sector’s access to the EU market has been a key issue in negotiations, as UK-based banks have pushed for close alignment with the EU. The EU’s existing “Equivalence” regime for third countries allows non-EU financial...

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Brexit News, Member News

BREXIT: Will a Second Referendum Provide Greater Certainty For Business?

Following the recent Salzburg summit where the EU rebuffed Theresa May’s Chequers Plan, business across the UK are grappling with the possibilities of Brexit, and what the UK’s departure from the EU will look like on a practical level. Whilst many SMEs, including participants  in our recent Brexit survey, are approaching the break with a cautious optimism, they are also busy with contingency planning in the event of a no-deal scenario. What businesses and employees alike are craving is certainty...

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Brexit News, Member News

Optimism In The Face Of Uncertainty UK SME Brexit Survey 2018

Each year, at OCO Global (a company specialized in International Trade and Investment) we deal with hundreds of UK SMEs and advise and support them on their international growth plans. To supplement what we are hearing and seeing in our daily work, we have commissioned a survey of 1,000 UK SMEs, looking at the impact, expectations and level of preparedness ahead of Brexit. Key findings include: Third of UK SMEs believe Brexit will be positive for their business (driven by existing exporters),...

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Brexit News, Member News, Trade & TTIP Related

Vulcan View: Week of October 22

BREXIT    Theresa May once again wards off Tory rebels on Brexit    Theresa May addressed her conservative party backbenchers at the weekly meeting of the 1922 Committee on Wednesday, where she made an impassioned speech that appears to have placated some of her critics, at least for now. Mrs May asked to speak at the meeting following rumours that backbench MPs would trigger a vote of no confidence, largely due to Mrs May’s announcement last week that she would consider extending the...

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Brexit News, Member News

The Weekly Vulcan View for the 15th to the 19th of October featuring analysis of the latest EU developments

VULCAN VIEW: KEY EVENTS THIS WEEK BREXIT   EU Summit – NO Deal but Prime Minister May is given ‘Space’   This week’s much-awaited European Council summit on Brexit ended, as predicted, in deadlock after no substantive progress was made on the issue of the Irish border.  British Prime Minister Theresa May addressed her fellow leaders on Wednesday, saying she remained confident that a breakthrough was within reach. However, at a private dinner the EU27 leaders expressed their frustration with the lack of progress...

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Brexit News, Chapter News

Brexit Timelines & Important Dates

Brexit Timeline Recap: What happened so far: Timeline: What happens once Article 50 has been triggered? European Council guidelines and conclusions 29 April 2017 - guidelines from the European Council (Article 50) on Brexit negotiations 20 October 2017 - European Council (Article 50) conclusions 15 December 2017 - guidelines from the European Council (Article 50) on Brexit negotiations 23 March 2018 - guidelines from the European Council (Article 50) on the framework for the future EU-UK relationship   29 June 2018 - European Council (Article 50) conclusions   July...

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Brexit News, Chapter News

Remarks by President Donald Tusk after the European Council meetings on 17 and 18 October 2018

Good afternoon, let me start with Brexit. Yesterday, after listening to Prime Minister May's assessment of the state of the negotiations, the EU27 confirmed that we want to continue the talks in a positive spirit. Leaders expressed their full trust in Michel Barnier, and asked our negotiator to continue efforts to achieve an agreement. I stand ready to convene a European Council on Brexit, if and when the EU negotiator reports that decisive progress has been made. And we...

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