Posted on 09/16/2019 9:29:33 PM PDT by Cronos
...The Luxembourg prime minister did not hold back. The leave campaign had been built on lies, he said. Johnson’s oft-repeated claims of progress in the talks were baseless. London had come up with nothing to replace the backstop.
the UK was to blame for the impasse. “I just want to repeat and remind that Theresa May accepted the withdrawal agreement,” he said. Britain’s “homemade” problems were causing “general problems” for the whole of the EU.
This was barely concealed anger at the disingenuous game being played by the British government.
..There are grave doubts, after his suspension of parliament and failure to advance any concrete proposals, that the prime minister wants a deal at all – and, should one be achieved, that he could get it through parliament.
as Bettel’s exasperation made clear, officials in Brussels, and leaders in national capitals, are running out of patience
Many now dread the prospect, remote as it may seem, of a second referendum. “Why on earth would you want a country so bitterly and hopelessly divided to stay?” asked one diplomat. “The wounds are going to last generations. How damaging would that be to Europe? Come back, maybe – but leave and sort things out first.”
The EU27 members do not trust Johnson, but many have little confidence in Jeremy Corbyn or in the quarrelsome tribes of remainers either. Certainly, they would rather have a deal: no one wants to be seen to have helped the UK jump off a cliff.
But that deal clearly cannot come at any cost. Twenty-six member states will, first, never abandon Ireland when it insists on the need for an operable backstop because, despite the clout of Germany and France, the EU remains a club of small countries, most with populations smaller than 10 million
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
If they truly would prefer the UK to leave it’s very simple - they simply have to deny an extension and decline to negotiate a new deal.
It actually isn’t difficult. The problem is that the referendum was split nearly evenly 50 50. And the public is also divided.
The may deal was ok for all except for the backstop which was a means to keep the Irish border open as per the 1997 good Friday agreement. But it was vetoed by the DUP.
To leave a confederation does mean a transition, but the UK did this only half heartedly as its opinion was divided.
This entire fiasco since 2016 is of the UK s making
1. It didn’t lay out the options for type of leave as question 2
2. It didn’t set a threshold for the referendum
3. It didn’t plan before invoking article 50
4. It had an unnecessary general election in 2017 that made the Tories beholden to the DUP
5. It didn’t agree among itself before going to negotiate so the parliament was in the dark. Kinda like now, so they are repeating their mistakes.
6. They didn’t just leave on March 31.
This entire mess is the UK s fault
The EU do have strict borders with non EU countries. That is part of the bone of contention behind the Irish issue now
They see themselves, with reason, to be under Westminster’s thumb and want out. They are a constituent nation in the union that is the United kingdom.
They look at their very little say in Westminster and contrast it with The Republic of Ireland which is an independent nation in the confederation of the eu. Ireland has it better, as does Estonia, Latvia, etc all tiny nations that aren’t dominated by large neighbour’s due to being part of the confederation
The deal was the UK’s.
The British mostly eat home grown poultry.
The ban is to allow the British farmers a chance to survive against superior American economies of scale.
They have said they are waiting to hear from the UK of proposed changes to the deal. Nothing yet.
As to denying the extension, that is the mood. However they know that if they deny it, the British will then blame the EU for the post Brexit crash. I can bet that after the Halloween Brexit m you will find lots of posters here blaming the du for British woes.
Boris Johnson said he wants protection for British farmers, bankers etc in any deal. That makes sense as otherwise the British economy will be completely beholden to the USA
Of course he wants protection for his folks. So does the President. That’s why they make ‘fair trade deals’ that everyone agrees on.
As for the other stuff you explained...Wow!!!! Politicians and their puppet masters could screw up wet dreams.
The EU was very much involved in the GFA talks. Although not a direct participant, it was a present observer and facilitator throughout - and of course the fact that both state parties were EU members helped lubricate the process.
Much of the confusion over the border issue arises from confusion between a 'people' border (passports/immigration) and a goods border (customs). Different rules apply to each.
All EU states belong to a customs union, which is integral to the EU treaties. There was therefore already an open customs border between the Republic and Northern Ireland at the time of the GFA, and customs didn't need to be addressed in the agreement.
The 'people' border is a different matter. There is no EU requirement for passport-free travel between EU states. Only a certain groupf of EU countries (the 'Schengen' group) have mutual passport-free borders, but this is not mandated in the EU treaties. Neither the UK nor the Republic of Ireland are Schengen members. The open people border between Northern Ireland and the south is therefore a bilateral agreement between the two states, not directly relevant to their EU membership.
The problem created by Brexit therefore relates entirely to the customs border. There is no reason why the bilateral open 'people' border should not be retained - indeed the EU has consistently supported the insistence of the Republic of Ireland that it should be retained. But if the UK leaves the EU it ipso facto leaves the customs union and a customs border follows. None of the parties - the UK, the EU, the people either side of the border - want this.
Trying to square this circle has led to the impasse over the 'Irish backstop'.
Correct - the President must look out for American interests first. And Boris ought to look out for the UK’s interests.
The problem is that there is little overlap.
Right now 11% of British imports are from the US and 7.5% of exports go to the USA. 54% of British imports and exports are to / from the USA.
Most of the UK’s “exports” and a lot of it’s imports are due to the supply chain in Western Europe - to give an analogy, a lot of cars in the US will have parts made across the US, so similarly cars may be assembled in the UK from car seats assembled in France using leather from Italy, tires from Spain, chassis from Germany and an engine made in the Czech republic.
This all flows across the borders without being stopped or charged. The stopping and delay is the bigger issue as factories then need to stock inventory rather than Just-in-time manufacturing (meaning they expect product to arrive at 9 am Wednesday for assembly at 11 am Wednesday. If there is a delay to Friday or even Thursday, that costs money.
The UK from the 80s transitioned from manufacturing to services - the major export - and out of that the majority is financial services for the european market.
Most of what the City offers is offered by Wall Street.
So
1. the USA can’t fully replace what is exported and imported with the rest of the european nations
2. there is open competition in the services market and in agriculture
So a trade deal WILL happen, but it will take time while different lobbies negotiate
Thank you Winniesboy.
How is the mood now for you in the UK?
Most of the people I know from Brighton, London, the home counties and Liverpool are just fed up. Leavers, remainers, the common moods are: fed up and angry. different people are angry at different things.
I really think, in my opinion, that a hard Brexit should happen - to prevent Brexit is really sweeping the monster under the carpet - to have anything other than a hard Brexit leaves people to blame everything but themselves
What is your opinion?
Centrum you tell me what you see as wrong with the May deal besides the all UK backstop?
The Republic already expanded the ports at Dublin and elsewhere.
Fair should not be the measure of a trade deal.
If I was to play ball in the NFL fairly, I would be carried off in a stretcher.
PPACA health care costs are a burden on our companies that require tariffs to balance out.
Our public school teachers teach an average around 16 kids each. Chinese school teachers probably average around 50. This makes it more expensive for American workers and their employers.
The EPA forces our companies to pay to reduce pollution. Chinese companies don’t face high EPA or ADA costs.
err... so kinda waiting for your response on what you saw/see, besides the backstop, as a problem with the November 2018 deal
Even Labour wouldn’t bite on May’s “deal”.
What Boris actually said, and please note my use of quotes, is that a trade deal “may take some time”.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.