Brexit - Qué nos espera?

UK retirees race to settle in Europe before Brexit With the continuing uncertainty around Brexit and the potential impact on freedom of movement within Europe, many British retirees are moving to Europe while they still can. With the Brexit deadline of March 2019 looming, many British retirees (in particular) are heading to Europe to settle before it potentially becomes more difficult. Move now – or wait? Experts believe that it’s unlikely that any Brexit deal will make it as easy as it is now for retirees to move overseas. Unless there is free movement for EU workers in the UK, there is little chance of maintaining retirement rights such as being allowed to use the health systems on the continent, even though these are paid for by the NHS in some countries – Spain for example. This is backed up by research which has found that young immigrants provide an economic boost to most OECD countries , but people turn into a net drain on national finances when they reach t

The U.K. is using an old trick to meet a deadline: ask for more time . As the third set of Brexit talks ran into familiar roadblocks and bitter frustrations were aired in public, an October deadline for a breakthrough is looking increasingly hard to meet. So the U.K. has asked the EU to squeeze in more negotiating sessions before then, according to a person familiar with the talks.  There are only two more rounds planned before an EU summit that will decide if “sufficient progress” has been made on the divorce settlement for talks to move on to trade. The discussions are scheduled in week-long blocks, yet most of the 100-strong team of British officials didn’t arrive in Brussels until mid-morning on Tuesday. A concluding news conference is slated for Thursday lunchtime. “The leeway the U.K. government has is very limited,” said Florian Otto, head of Europe research at global risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft. “It isn’t really an option to let the timeline slip because you

Michel Barnier could hardly have been clearer . The EU’s chief negotiator cast off diplomatic language to start the third round of talks on Monday with a firm rebuke : “We must start negotiating seriously.” Barnier dismissed a raft of recent British policy documents, essentially telling Brexit Secretary David Davis the U.K. has been answering the wrong question. Barnier wants to know the U.K.’s position on how much it’s prepared to pay as a financial settlement when it leaves, Bloomberg’s Ian Wishart reports. For its part, the U.K. continued to call for “imagination” and flexibility. It still wants to show the EU that the issues of the divorce and the future relationship are intertwined and it makes sense to address them together. The EU has been clear it wants to tackle the U.K.-EU split first, and only then will it agree to talk about the future. Moving on to trade talks was penciled in for October but now looks more likely to slip.  “If the papers question the agreed

Once again, domestic politics will overshadow efforts to get down to Brexit talks. Just as Prime Minister Theresa May’s cabinet had started to talk with one voice on Brexit, the opposition Labour Party’s proposal to keep the U.K. in the single market for as long as four years looks set to fracture the Conservatives’ fragile unity. May’s lack of a parliamentary majority means it wouldn’t take much for a rebellion of pro-European Tories to nudge the government toward a softer Brexit. And lawmakers will have their chance to make their voices heard next month when key Brexit legislation hits Parliament. “There is now a real chance that the U.K. could stay in a customs union forever,” Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, said on Twitter . “But a few Tory rebels are needed.” Labour’s proposal is a reversal that puts clear water between the two main parties on Brexit policy. It would mean the U.K. remains in the single market and continues paying into the

The U.K. has now published a flood of documents on Brexit but remained silent on the one topic most likely to derail a deal : how much money it will pay the European Union. That’s a problem as talks resume next week with a deadline for making significant progress just eight weeks away. A continued reluctance to engage on the topic will prompt the EU to delay the start of talks on a long-term trade deal. Investors have noticed. The U.K. made concessions to the EU in some of its position papers, yet sterling still fell this week to its lowest closing level in eight years. “The thing that worries us is that it looks as if the negotiations over the bill are going to take a little bit longer,” said Mike Amey of Pacific Investment Management Co. “If we can’t agree the bill then we don’t even get through to the next round.” There is a combination of frustration and bewilderment at the U.K.’s approach and its failure to engage on some of the biggest issues, two EU diplomats te

Back in July the European Union gave the U.K. some holiday homework: clarify what you want from Brexit or risk stalling the talks. Prime Minister Theresa May’s government got busy scribbling essays, the latest of which is on data protection and comes out today. The problem, according to some Brexit watchers, is that despite the frenzy of activity the U.K. may have made the cardinal error of failing to answer the questions properly . For a lot of what May’s team have handed in is focused on future relations between the two economies, while the EU wanted insight into how to resolve differences over separation issues such as Ireland’s border and citizens’ rights. There has also been next to nothing said by London on the critical issue of a financial settlement — and the U.K. isn’t expected to give any detail on it next week when talks resume in Brussels. That means the EU may still feel the U.K. hasn’t done enough for its governments to green-light negotiations for a long

Britain is in a hurry to turn the Brexit talks to the topic of trade, but the European Union is counseling patience. Prime Minister Theresa May’s government will on Tuesday release another position paper on how it envisages its future relations with the EU. The latest focuses on how businesses and consumers can settle legal disputes after the breakup. The flood of documents is aimed at rebutting EU criticism that the U.K. has been unclear what it wants from Brexit. But is also marks an attempt to pressure the bloc into bringing forward discussion of a long-term trade deal by highlighting the complexity of the issues at hand. For example, Bart Van Vooren of Covington & Burling noted in a paper on Monday that the U.K. asked for British drug manufacturers to be able to release medicines to the European market after Brexit. Yet that would only work if Britain remains party to EU rules on pharmaceuticals, something that wil have to be discussed as part of a trade pact.

Just a week to go before Brexit talks resume and already the U.K. and European Union are at odds again over how soon they can start crafting a trade deal. Adopting a provocative posture, Prime Minister Theresa May’s government is, in its own words, “stepping up pressure” on the EU to move on from discussing the terms of separation as soon as October. The use of fighting words in the past has not budged Brussels and will not go down well now given that EU officials blame the U.K. for slow progress and a lack of clarity. Before agreeing to talk trade, the EU wants “sufficient progress” to be made addressing citizens’ rights, the Irish border and the Brexit bill. Both sides had initially aimed for that milestone to be met in October. But Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar told The Guardian that “the process will definitely take more time than we expected.” “There are so many difficult topics on the table, difficult issues there, that one cannot expect all those issues wi

The U.K. is adopting so many Brexit positions it might do well to start a yoga class. Details on at least three different topics are being lined up for next week , Bloomberg’s Ian Wishart and Alex Morales report, following plans for customs and the Irish border unveiled this week. They come after criticism that Prime Minister Theresa May hasn’t presented a clear idea of what she wants from the Brexit talks. The U.K. is now trying to inject fresh impetus in order to convince European leaders that trade talks should start as soon as October. The negotiations with the EU have had a “positive and constructive start,” May told Sky News on Thursday. “There’s a lot to be done. As a government we’re showing the work we’re putting into this.” On Monday the government plans to release two documents. One is on how it will treat confidential EU information obtained before Brexit, and the other is on how goods placed into supply chains in the EU single market before the U.K.’s depa

Los planes del Ministerio de Interior británico los revelan este jueves los medios del país. Los ciudadanos comunitarios podrán continuar viajando al Reino Unido y viviendo en este país libremente tras el Brexit , según los planes del Ministerio de Interior británico que revelan este jueves los medios. The Times señala que el principio que contempla la libre circulación seguirá en vigor para aquellos nacionales de estados de la Unión Europea (UE) que deseen visitar o residir en el Reino Unido, si bien se pondrá en marcha un sistema de permisos que limitará el número de ciudadanos que migran para trabajar. Algunos detalles de ese nuevo sistema de inmigración que estudia el Gobierno británico han trascendido después de que el Ejecutivo de Theresa May divulgara este miércoles un documento oficial sobre su posición con respecto a las fronteras con Irlanda tras la marcha de la UE. Con relación a cuál será la postura británica en materia de inmigración, uno de los asuntos

Nota en Idioma Catalán Les relacions entre Londres i Dublín -  El Brexit transforma Irlanda Dublín és la destinació favorita dels bancs i empreses financeres de la City Dublín està desenvolupant un nou barri d'oficines de luxe i d'habitatges en les Docklands Per a Irlanda, el Brexit és alhora una oportunitat excel·lent i un problema gravíssim. Oportunitat perquè es convertirà en l'únic membre de parla anglesa de la Unió Europea, pont natural amb un Regne Unit exiliat motu proprio i destinació favorita de bancs i empreses que decideixen marxar d'Anglaterra. Problema, perquè pot significar el retorn d'una frontera dura amb l'Ulster, amb les inevitables repercussions per al comerç i la potencial amenaça que significaria per al procés de pau. Per als qui prefereixen veure el got mig ple que mig buit, la perspectiva del Brexit ha contribuït que l'economia irlandesa tingui l'índex més gran de creixement de tota la UE. Alguns dels problemes est

There was something for everyone in yesterday’s U.K. economic data. For those who argue the British economy is proving Brexit-proof, unemployment fell to 4.4 percent, its lowest level since 1975. The pound rose in response. “Despite the scaremongering of the Remain campaign, businesses have confidence in the U.K. economy and are continuing to take on new staff,” said Change Britain Chair Gisela Stuart. For those who argue the economy is buckling as Brexit nears, the squeeze on U.K. consumers continued into the second quarter with basic wages rising 2.1 percent, lagging behind inflation. Productivity also fell. “Instead of the land of milk and honey promised by Brexiteers, we’re seeing falling wages,” said Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable. Retail sales statistics scheduled for release today will provide further insight into the state of the economy. The challenge for Prime Minister Theresa May will be to ensure ongoing voter support for Brexit even if wag