Chapter News

Brexit News, Chapter News, News, Uncategorized

No Deal and the Union…. Do Brexit Supporters Know Where They are Going?

By John Bruton, February 10,2019  We seem to be sliding inexorably toward a “No Deal” Brexit. Mrs May’s decision to prioritize a deal with the Brexiteers in her own party, over a possible deal with the Opposition, and the time limits imposed on all of us by Article 50, make a No Deal much more likely than it was a week ago. The EU is a rule based organisation, and it cannot afford to break its own rules if it wants to maintain...

Read more

Brexit News, Chapter News, News

U.S. Trade Representative Signs Wine and Distilled Spirits Continuity Agreements with the UK

02/04/2019 Washington, D.C. – On January 31, 2019, Ambassador Gregg Doud, USTR Chief Agricultural Negotiator, and Ambassador Kim Darroch, United Kingdom (UK) Ambassador to the United States, signed two agreements covering wine and distilled spirits today to ensure there is no disruption in trade of these products between the United States and the UK when the UK leaves the European Union (EU). Currently the United States has agreements on wine and distilled spirits with the European Union which cover trade...

Read more

Brexit News, Chapter News, News

Joint statement on behalf of President Juncker and Prime Minister May

Brussels, 7 February 2019 President Juncker and Prime Minister May have met today to review the next steps in the UK's withdrawal from the EU. The talks were held in a spirit of working together to achieve the UK's orderly withdrawal from the EU, especially in the context of a shared determination to achieve a strong partnership for the future given the global challenges the EU and the UK face together in upholding open and fair trade, cooperation in the fight...

Read more

Brexit News, Chapter News, News

Joint statement by President Jean-Claude Juncker and Taoiseach Leo Varadkar

Brussels, 6 February 2019 The Withdrawal Agreement and the Political Declaration have been negotiated in good faith and have been agreed by all 27 Leaders of the European Union Member States as well as by the United Kingdom Government. As we have said on many occasions, the Withdrawal Agreement is the best and only deal possible. It is not open for renegotiation. The backstop is an integral part of the Withdrawal Agreement. While we hope the backstop will not need to be...

Read more

Chapter News, News

Security Union: Commission recommends negotiating international rules for obtaining electronic evidence

5 February 2019. Brussels, Belgium   The European Commission recommends engaging in two international negotiations on cross-border rules to obtain electronic evidence. With the majority of criminal investigations requiring access to evidence based online and often outside the EU, there is an urgent need to equip police and judicial authorities with quick and efficient tools fit for modern reality. Following up on the European Council Conclusions from October 2018, the Commission presented two negotiating mandates, one for negotiations with the United States and one...

Read more

Brexit News, Chapter News, News, Uncategorized

Brexit pushes UK business confidence to its lowest level in nearly a decade

By Hadas Gold, CNN Business February 4, 2019 London (CNN Business)- Companies in the United Kingdom are spending less and scaling back plans because of Brexit fears that have pushed business confidence to its lowest level in a decade. The dire outlook was revealed Monday in surveys published by Deloitte and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. Deloitte found that chief financial officers have adopted their "most defensive strategy stance in nine years." Revenue growth expectations have dropped to their lowest level...

Read more

Brexit News, Chapter News, News

EU markets watchdog approves Brexit agreement with Britain

LONDON (Reuters) - The European Union’s markets watchdog said it has approved an agreement on supervisory cooperation with Britain after Brexit to avoid disruption to cross-border financial services like asset management. “The board agreed in substance the Memorandum of Understanding and will provide more detail shortly,” a spokesman for the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) said on Thursday. The MoU was negotiated with Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to ensure that regulators in the bloc and London agree to exchange...

Read more

Chapter News, News

VIDEO: Fed Signals End of Interest Rate Increases

Jerome H. Powell, the Federal Reserve chairman /Getty Images By Binyamin Appelbaum, New York Times Jan. 30, 2019 WASHINGTON — In suspending its previous plans to continue raising rates this year, the Federal Reserve signaled that its march toward higher interest rates may be ending sooner than expected. The Fed’s chairman, Jerome H. Powell, said economic growth remained “solid” and the central bank expected growth to continue. But in a sharp reversal of the Fed’s stance just six week ago, Mr. Powell said the...

Read more

Brexit News, Chapter News, News

Speeches by President Juncker and Chief Negotiator Barnier at the Plenary session of the European Parliament on the occasion of the debate on the United Kingdom’s withdrawal from the EU

Brussels, 30 January 2019 Speech by President Jean-Claude Juncker Mr. President, Honourable Members, In less than 60 days, the United Kingdom is due to leave the European Union. This is a bad decision, as I find. Even as the Commission has defended the interests of the European Union, this spirit of respect and friendship has accompanied us at every step in these negotiations. The Withdrawal Agreement and Political Declaration agreed by all 27 Leaders and the United Kingdom government is the result of that....

Read more

Chapter News, News, Trade & TTIP Related

EU-U.S. trade talks: European Commission publishes progress report

Brussels, 30 January 2019 The European Commission has today published a report on the implementation of the 25 July 2018 Joint Statement agreed by Presidents Juncker and Trump. In line with the Commission's commitment to transparency, the report provides a detailed overview on the state of play of the talks so far. The document was sent today to the European Parliament and Member States. The Joint Statement launched a new phase in EU-U.S. trade relations, preventing an escalation in trade tensions and setting out...

Read more