Brexit: Get on with it already? | 55 comments (55 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

No negotiations before Brexit (4.00 / 2)

The European Union's top trade official says the UK cannot begin negotiating terms for doing business with the bloc until after it has left.
"First you exit then you negotiate," Cecilia Malmstrom told BBC Newsnight.
After Brexit, the UK would become a "third country" in EU terms, she said - meaning trade would be carried out based on World Trade Organisation rules until a new deal was complete.

by gk (gk (gk quattro due due sette @gmail.com)) on Fri Jul 1st, 2016 at 12:28:04 PM EST

Re: No negotiations before Brexit (none / 0)

Financial institutions will be leaving The City over the next 2+ years. They will not hang around waiting for the politicians to get their act together to Leave and then another unknowable number of years in trade negotiations.

She believed in nothing; only her skepticism kept her from being an atheist. -- Jean-Paul Sartre

by ATinNM on Fri Jul 1st, 2016 at 02:38:18 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: No negotiations before Brexit (none / 1)

Yup: I'd guess that if this isn't sorted by end September in some way, the fight will start - it'll take that long to get the institutional ducks in a row and decisions ready for sign-off.

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Fri Jul 1st, 2016 at 02:59:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: No negotiations before Brexit (none / 0)

flight, not fight.

by Colman (colman at eurotrib.com) on Fri Jul 1st, 2016 at 03:00:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: No negotiations before Brexit (none / 1)

Well, this is going to be "interesting" (in the British sense): both May and Gove stated that article 50 may not be invoked before "the end of the year" or even next year.

Brexit cannot be cancelled or delayed, says Francois Hollande | UK Politics | News | The Independent

Michael Gove said that as Prime Minister he would only act after "extensive preliminary talks", and most probably not before the end of this year, while Theresa May said: "There should be no decision to invoke Article 50 before the British negotiating strategy is agreed and clear."

by Bernard (bernard) on Fri Jul 1st, 2016 at 06:45:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: No negotiations before Brexit (none / 0)

tbh May is being realistic. There is absolutely nothing the rest of the EU can do to enforce the issue, but I imagine they can make it increasingly uncomfortable with legislative and regulatory changes

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Fri Jul 1st, 2016 at 08:04:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: No negotiations before Brexit (none / 1)

Meanwhile: No bendy bananas nor high power appliances for you. Oh, and who's in charge?

by Bernard (bernard) on Fri Jul 1st, 2016 at 08:32:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: No negotiations before Brexit (none / 0)

It would be a wry twist of fate if the UK has stumbled into a sweet padded spot on the fence, finally!
Conversely equally twisted would be that the markets instability as the UK waffles and wavers wobbles the already fragile balance of EU finance off its Austerity Axis into the Keynesian (Keen for short) into the arms of Corbyn, Podemos, Syriza and MV5*...
Ben venga!

'The history of public debt is full of irony. It rarely follows our ideas of order and justice.' Thomas Piketty

by melo (melometa4(at)gmail.com) on Sat Jul 2nd, 2016 at 12:12:51 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: No negotiations before Brexit (none / 0)

I find myself compelled to agree with Liam Fox's description of Cecilia Malstrom's dictat as "bizarre, stupid, preposterous and ridiculous".

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Fri Jul 1st, 2016 at 09:17:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: No negotiations before Brexit (none / 0)

A suitable response would be: 'The UK will not produce an Article 50 request until and unless practical arrangements to negotiate the exit are agreed.' That would likely seem to unite Merkel and Hollande in agreement to provide such a framework, if for different reasons.

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Fri Jul 1st, 2016 at 09:22:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Brexit: Get on with it already? | 55 comments (55 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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