EU warns of post-Brexit rival Britain after Johnson win

AFP via Yahoo News ^ | December 13, 2019 | Alex Pigman

[Olog-hai]

European leaders warned Friday that Britain could become a formidable rival, just hours after a big victory by Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s conservatives all but sealed the UK’s Brexit divorce.

But the EU chiefs, meeting in Brussels, also expressed relief that British voters had sent a clear message, bringing to an end the first phase of a crisis that has dogged Europe for more than three years.

Led by France and Germany, EU member states said they would pursue a swift trade deal with a tight deadline of end 2020, but insisted that any new arrangement must uphold European values and norms.

“There is no question of concluding a deal at any price,” EU Council President Charles Michel told a news conference after the talks. “Negotiations are over when the results are balanced and guarantee respect for the different concerns,” the former Belgian premier said.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that Britain would be an economic “competitor at our door” after it leaves the EU and French President Emmanuel Macron saw a threat that London would become an “unfair competitor”.

This reflects concern that Britain could become a kind of “Singapore on Thames”, a trading hub where multinationals can gain access to the EU’s huge market without playing by its rules. …

[sinsofsolarempirefan]

The UK Government retains a ‘golden share’ in Rolls Royce from when it was nationalised in the 1970s and then re-privatised in the 1980s, this gives the UK Government the right to veto decisions that are considered contrary to the British national interest, just as it does with the UK’s other main aerospace/defence company BAe Systems. They aren’t going to move production to India or China, even if they wanted to, which they wouldn’t, especially to China because it means they would lose a lot of far more lucrative defence contracts in the west, particularly in the American market.

[sinsofsolarempirefan]

The UK Government retains a ‘golden share’ in Rolls Royce from when it was nationalised in the 1970s and then re-privatised in the 1980s, this gives the UK Government the right to veto decisions that are considered contrary to the British national interest, just as it does with the UK’s other main aerospace/defence company BAe Systems. They aren’t going to move production to India or China, even if they wanted to, which they wouldn’t, especially to China because it means they would lose a lot of far more lucrative defence contracts in the west, particularly in the American market.

[NorseViking]

Ah, I see. Fascism. Let’s hope it works for them.

[sinsofsolarempirefan]

Fascism? What do you think the US government would do if Northrop Grummen announced it was going to move production to China? It wouldn’t happen, because the US government would not tolerate it.