Zelo Street! Barnier Spells It Out - WE’RE SCREWED

The deadline for the UK to request an extension to the Brexit transition period comes at the end of this month; should no request be made, and if no trade agreement is in place with the EU, then the UK will leave at the end of December 2020 with No Deal. It is, as Cloughie might have put it, as simple as that, young man.

Read the full analysis of how dogmatic morons are deliberately sabotaging the UK's economy and international reputation here

Open letter to the EU: please sign

The Brexit Blog: Interpreting the UK European Election results

The Brexit Blog: Interpreting the UK European Election results: At one level, the explanation of the UK’s European election results * is entirely simple. If you are in favour of Brexit, you see the Tories...

Follow the 2019 EU election results

Follow the results as they are announced tonight. You can also visualise the results from previous elections.
Meanwhile, if you can still vote, get out there and do it. Low turnouts make the fascists happy. If you choose not to vote, then you chose to vote for fascism.



There are more analysis tools here: European Parliament official site.

'We are being abandoned': Britons in EU on the Brexit deal vote | Politics | The Guardian

Their problems, fears and concerns run the gamut, from the practical to the emotional and the existential to the deeply personal.

In advance of the Commons vote on Tuesday, some of the estimated 1.3 million British citizens living elsewhere in the EU worry they will lose their livelihoods because they will no longer be able to work across more than one country, or their professional qualifications may no longer be recognised... 'We are being abandoned': Britons in EU on the Brexit deal vote | Politics | The Guardian

mainly macro: Brexit. Of course everyone hates a compromise, but like much else its the best option, isn't it?

This is the argument put forward by May and her supporters, but rather more significantly it is also the case argued by Martin Sandbu here and other very rational and realistic people. When you have two sides implacably opposed, compromise is often the way forward. No one likes the compromise, but that is the nature of compromises. In a mature democracy where we don’t want to be at our throats all the time, compromise is inevitable...mainly macro: Brexit. Of course everyone hates a compromise, but like much else its the best option, isn't it?

This petition could help UK nationals retain EU citizenship after Brexit | Euronews

The European Commission has allowed a group to launch a petition calling for permanent EU citizenship after Brexit.

The proposed petition on “Permanent European Union Citizenship” is to be registered on July 23 as a European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI), the Commission announced.

“The main objective of the proposed initiative is to guarantee that European citizenship and its associated rights cannot be lost once they have been attained,” the Commission said in a press release... >>This petition could help UK nationals retain EU citizenship after Brexit | Euronews

The Brexit Blog: The German car industry and Brexit

The German car industry occupies a particular and peculiar place within the Brexiter imagination. Particular, because it is invariably cited to ‘prove’ that an excellent UK-EU trade deal is inevitable. French cheese and Italian Prosecco occasionally feature in pursuit of the same argument but less often, perhaps because Brexiters hope that referencing German cars will make some “Vorsprung Durch Technik” rub off on their threadbare case.

At all events, the centrality of German car makers to the case for Brexit was expressed repeatedly during the Referendum campaign by, for example, Peter Hargreaves, the biggest individual donor (£3.2M) to the Leave campaign...

Read on: The Brexit Blog: The German car industry and Brexit

Brexit round-up – referendum promises, EU position, UK position, Ireland, single market, Brexit bill, ECJ – Jack of Kent blog

As I am taking a break from active tweeting (and am instead just promoting my posts and so on), this is a round-up of interesting links on Brexit and similar stuff...

Read full post: Brexit round-up – referendum promises, EU position, UK position, Ireland, single market, Brexit bill, ECJ – Jack of Kent blog

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Jack of Kent contains much useful analysis of the legal ramifications of Brexit and is well worth a follow.

Brexit: Statement by Guy Verhofstadt and the EP Brexit Steering Group | News | European Parliament

EU Press release

The Brexit Steering group met Michel Barnier, EU negotiator for Brexit on Tuesday 25 July and issued this common statement after the 2nd round of negotiations between the EU and the UK.

“Last week was the first real round of Brexit negotiations between the European Union and the United Kingdom. It was an opportunity for the two parties to review the main issues and map out where further explanations are necessary,” said the Members of the EP Brexit Steering group.

“However, if we want negotiations to succeed within the limited time we have, progress on more detailed content will have to be made sooner rather than later. We can only start talking about a new EU-UK relationship if sufficient progress has been achieved in the three main withdrawal areas: citizens’ rights, the financial settlement and the border issue on the island of Ireland.”

“The European Parliament cannot be clear enough that sufficient progress means progress across the board, and not just in one or two areas. The European Parliament will formally and in due time indicate when the point of ‘sufficient progress’ has been reached”

“To be precise, the European Parliament will remain vigilant regarding citizens’ rights and will continue to push for full rights for EU citizens in the UK as well as UK citizens in the EU. It is a core mission of the European project to protect, not to diminish, the fundamental rights of all citizens."

“The European Parliament specifically seeks to fully safeguard the rights concerning family reunion, comprehensive healthcare, voting rights in local elections, the transferability of (social) rights, and the rules governing permanent residence (including the right to leave the UK without losing this status). Simultaneously, we seek to avoid an administrative burden for citizens and want proposals which are intrusive to people’s privacy off the table, e.g. proposed systematic criminal checks.”

“Last but not least, the European Parliament wants the Withdrawal Agreement to be directly enforceable and to include a mechanism in which the European Court of Justice can play its full role.”

You can read the original Press Release here: Brexit: Statement by Guy Verhofstadt and the EP Brexit Steering Group | News | European Parliament

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Analysis

Reading between the lines, it's very clear that the UK delegation is doing bugger-all and acting in what their EU counterparts consider to be arrogant bad faith. The members of the Brexit Steering Group may rest assured that they are not the only ones getting this impression.

Meanwhile, the futures of at least 70 million people - UK residents and UK citizens elsewhere in the EU - are hanging directly in the balance. Not just because of residence rights and all the red tape eliminated by virtue of being part of the EU. Nor just because the UK is expected to pay for accrued liabilities, such as pension rights for EU27 citizens who have worked in or for the UK. There is serious concern about the risk of violence breaking out again in Northern Ireland. What happens to Gibraltar? While both UK and Spain are in the EU, there is a truce over sovereignty there as well.

The list is almost endless. It will be impossible to get through in 1 year and 8 months, which is all that remains before the Article 50 notification period ends. An extension to that period is only possible if  all EU27 countries agree to it. Sending arrogant, incompetent, unprepared morons, to not so much negotiate as go out of their way to antagonise their opposite numbers, is exactly how not to demonstrate the good faith necessary to convince other countries to give that desperately needed breathing space and the equally desperately needed "transition period" of 5 years to get the Brexit-caused red tape sorted out without destroying too many lives.

Further reading:

• Guardian: Fail to prepare, prepare to gloriously succeed in Brexit negotiations
• David Allen Green: The true saboteurs of Brexit (FT blogs)
• Independent: Former British EU negotiator says Brexit was a 'terrible idea' and even the Government doesn't understand how bad it will be (not the snappiest of titles - AT)
• Quartz: How Brexit negotiations are going, in one photo

EU with a View: an Economist's Take on the Brexiteers' Free Trade Fantasies by @FiratUenlue

A look at data from major trading nations shows that no FTA has a cats chance in hell of closing that gap for the UK pic.twitter.com/dhL5lMR4tD

— Firat Unlu (@FiratUenlue) 10 July 2017

I find it very difficult to explain the huge merchandise gap with "EU red tape holds back UK exporters" pic.twitter.com/Ev7m3o8lIG

— Firat Unlu (@FiratUenlue) 10 July 2017

Same pattern in Korea... pic.twitter.com/cYtBuxAI9O

— Firat Unlu (@FiratUenlue) 10 July 2017

Happy Europe Day

Europe Day, held on 9 May every year, celebrates peace and unity in Europe. The date marks the anniversary of the historical 'Schuman declaration'. At a speech in Paris in 1950, Robert Schuman, the then French foreign minister, set out his idea for a new form of political cooperation in Europe, which would make war between Europe’s nations unthinkable.

His vision was to create a European institution that would pool and manage coal and steel production. A treaty creating such a body was signed just under a year later. Schuman’s proposal is now considered to be the beginning of what became the European Union.

FAZ - EU Commission fears failure of negotiations

FAZ - EU Commission fears failure of negotiations

You can find Jeremy Cliffe's The Economist blog on German politics here: Kaffeeklatsch

Russia-linked fake news floods French social media - EUObserver

Almost one in four of the internet links shared by French users of social media in the run-up to elections were related to fake news, much of which favoured anti-EU candidates and showed traces of Russian influence, according to a new study.

The survey, by a UK-based firm, Bakamo, published on Wednesday (19 April), looked at 800 websites and almost 8 million links shared between 1 November and 4 April.

19.2 percent of links related to media that did not “adhere to journalistic standards” and that expressed “radical opinions …

Read on: Russia-linked fake news floods French social media

Immigration: who needs a deal? – UK in a changing Europe

The status of EU nationals in the UK and UK nationals in the EU is likely to be the first item on the agenda for the Article 50 negotiations, as I explain here. What is far less clear is whether, and when, there will be any substantive discussion about the UK’s post-Brexit immigration policy.  There are two possible approaches that the government – and other EU member states – could take.

The first is that advocated before the referendum by Vote Leave – that, after leaving the EU, the UK should adopt a “non-discriminatory” system, under which non-UK nationals seeking to migrate to the UK would be treated the same, regardless of their country of origin (with a few relatively minor exceptions, non-EEA/Swiss nationals all currently face the same rules)...

Read on -> Immigration: who needs a deal? – UK in a changing Europe by Professor Jonathan Portes

Brexit: are you angry yet?

As I write this, Theresa May is poised to trigger Article 50* and start the process of taking us out of the EU.

 Now that it’s certain we’re going to set this juggernaut in motion, I expect Leave voters are feeling pleased and a little relieved that we’re finally getting on with the job. If you’re one of them, I’d like to take a moment to address you directly now. I know you won’t want to hear what I have to say, I know this will seem like a “Remoaner” rant (and I have to admit that it is), but please bear with me on just this one journey. If you’re a Remain voter, or didn’t vote, I think you need to hear this too...

Read on: Brexit: are you angry yet? | Citizen of Nowhere by David Hills

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* This act of incommensurable stupidity was committed shortly before 12:30 pm on 29 March, 2017

Top 8 effects of Brexit on the future EU policies | VoteWatch

This report looks at the impact of Brexit from a fresh angle, digging into how the direction of the EU policies is likely to change in the absence of the UK representatives from the EU decision-making bodies. Our research combines expert insights with big political data that captures the actual voting records of representatives of all 28 Member States in the EU institutions in recent years.

In short, Brexit will change substantially the dynamics in the EU institutions. A Council of 27 members and a European Parliament lacking the British MEPs would see a substantial shift in the balance of power in favour of the pro-social/interventionist political forces, i.e. those who push for stronger intervention of the state in the economy and the redistribution of income. On the other hand, the forces that support free market, less red tape and a more competitive Europe would suffer a substantial blow...

See more at: Top 8 effects of Brexit on the future EU policiesVoteWatch | VoteWatch

EuroCitizens: UK NATIONALS WILL LOSE ALL CITIZENSHIP RIGHTS ON BRITAIN'S DEPARTURE FROM THE EU

UK nationals in Europe will automatically lose all their citizenship rights on Britain´s departure from the EU, unless there is a specific agreement to the contrary, according to a report by two Spanish legal experts carried out for the European Parliament. This will mean the end to a whole raft of rights: freedom of movement; the right to live, work and study; the right to receive social benefits; consumer and political rights.

These are the shocking conclusions...

Read on: EuroCitizens: UK NATIONALS WILL LOSE ALL CITIZENSHIP RIGHTS ON BRITAIN'S DEPARTURE FROM THE EU

Brexit and the cost of a meal - what May has decided you voted for

Typical French greengrocer's stall in a market

Today dawned bright and sunny and, here at least, continues so. The local market was doing a roaring trade, even at midday and near to its closing time.

And still the stalls were loaded with: ripe fruit'n'veg, including bright red Spanish strawberries the size of medium tomatoes; beguiling cheeses from near and far, all begging to be tasted; fish, meat and poultry so fresh it could barely keep still; olives; spices; mouthwatering breads and pastries; takeaway meals prepared under guaranteed hygienic conditions; decent quality wines... the lot at ridiculously low prices.

Now let us compare with similar products in the UK 40 years ago, which is what Theresa May (with the help of both Tories and Labour) has decided you're going to get.

Of course, this is assuming the EU (a WTO member) immediately accepts trade on basic WTO rules with the tariffs proposed by the UK. No, WTO isn't a default treaty. It's a framework. You still have to negotiate with your trading partners, which - for a hard-Brexit UK - means every country on Earth.

Admittedly, it seems passing moronic to prefer a huge, global organisation with no elected representatives and centred only on trade to a regional union with your nearest neighbours and allies, with elected representatives whose remit covers not just trade, but also your health, social welfare and, er, human rights. Nevertheless, there you go. To think that May should in reality be cleverly manipulating public opinion, in order to do an overwhelmingly popular U-turn on Brexit once the entire country is up in arms as it realises what it's in for, appears to be generously over-estimating her intelligence and political savvy.

So, what did we have 40 years ago? Let me search my memory. It's not hard:

Unite for Europe - March on 25th is proceeding!

Everything is in order and we've had final confirmation from the GLA that Parliament Sq can be used tomorrow.

We want to reiterate the need for people to be mindful of the Wednesday attacks in their behaviour.

There is a flower memorial by Carriage Gates (Parliament) and we encourage people to add flowers, wreaths, cards and messages to the existing remembrance site. Alternatively, please bring some other sign in honour of and solidarity with those that lost their lives.

We will be holding a minute's silence before our guest speakers begin.

We will march for peace and unity. Let us unite for London, unite for Britain and Unite for Europe.

Help spread the word