Post-Brexit News and Discussions

[Time_Traveller]

This will be a step towards rejoining the EU in the decades ahead.

[Time_Traveller]

UK, EU and Spain hail 'significant progress' in Gibraltar talks

Friday 12 April 2024 18:50, UK

"Significant progress" has been made towards a post-Brexit deal for Gibraltar, Spain, the EU and the UK have said.

In a joint statement following talks in Brussels, the parties said they had agreed "general political lines" on the territory's future status and said a final deal could be reached within weeks.

Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron was among those taking in part in the talks about Gibraltar's relationship with the EU - which remains unresolved after the UK officially left the bloc in 2020.

The joint statement said: "Discussions took place in a constructive atmosphere, with significant progress achieved. General political lines have been agreed, including on [the] airport, goods and mobility.

"Negotiations will continue over the coming weeks to conclude the UK-EU agreement.

https://news.sky.com/story/uk-eu-and-sp ... s-13113632

[Time_Traveller]

Brussels proposes return to pre-Brexit mobility for UK and EU young people

Thu 18 Apr 2024 16.00 BST

The European Commission has proposed opening negotiations with the UK to allow mobility enjoyed before Brexit to millions of 18- to 30-year-olds in a major concession.

It said it would now seek approval from individual EU leaders to start the talks, which could partly eliminate one of the most controversial elements of Brexit, a block on the right to live in each other’s countries visa-free.

Under the envisaged agreement, EU and UK citizens aged between 18 and 30 would be able to stay for up to four years in the destination country, the European Commission said in a detailed statement.

“The objective would be to facilitate youth exchanges, making it easier for young EU citizens to travel, work and live in the UK, with reciprocity for young UK nationals in a member state,” the commission said.

The decision by the commission, which has in the past been vehemently opposed to making any concessions to the UK sought since Brexit, is seen as a breakthrough in UK-EU relations.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... ung-people

[Time_Traveller]

Brussels proposes return to pre-Brexit mobility for UK and EU young people

Thu 18 Apr 2024 16.00 BST

The European Commission has proposed opening negotiations with the UK to allow mobility enjoyed before Brexit to millions of 18- to 30-year-olds in a major concession.

It said it would now seek approval from individual EU leaders to start the talks, which could partly eliminate one of the most controversial elements of Brexit, a block on the right to live in each other’s countries visa-free.

Under the envisaged agreement, EU and UK citizens aged between 18 and 30 would be able to stay for up to four years in the destination country, the European Commission said in a detailed statement.

“The objective would be to facilitate youth exchanges, making it easier for young EU citizens to travel, work and live in the UK, with reciprocity for young UK nationals in a member state,” the commission said.

The decision by the commission, which has in the past been vehemently opposed to making any concessions to the UK sought since Brexit, is seen as a breakthrough in UK-EU relations.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... ung-people

More on this:-

Government rejects post-Brexit agreement with Europe to help young people travel and live abroad

25 minutes ago

The Government has ruled out any post-Brexit deal that would make it easier for young Britons to live, study and work in the EU.

The European Commission said on Thursday it would seek permission from EU member states to open negotiations on a “youth mobility scheme” for UK citizens aged 18-30.

But a Government spokesperson said there was no interest from the UK side, adding that “free movement within the EU was ended”.

The UK currently has individual youth mobility schemes with 13 countries, and the Government said it preferred such bilateral arrangements over an EU-wide deal.

Labour also rejected the possibility of an EU-wide scheme, saying the party would “seek to improve the UK’s working relationship with the EU within our red lines – no return to the single market, customs union or free movement”.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/p ... 31866.html

Typical Tories and Labour, the UK needs a big change and have a pro-EU party in and revert this stupidity and madness once and for all.

[Time_Traveller]

New EU referendum could take place within next 16 years, poling guru John Curtice says

6 hours ago

Shifting generational attitudes towards the EU could result in another referendum on British membership by the year 2040, polling expert professor John Curtice has predicted.

Prof Curtice said the timescale would depend on “uncertain politics” and how a potential future Labour government approaches relations with the EU.

He suggested the nation’s feelings toward the 27-member bloc would change as younger people in the UK become eligible to vote while older citizens, who voted overwhelmingly for Brexit, drop off the electoral register.

“If you look so far at what’s happened to attitudes, and if you look at the age profile of attitudes towards Brexit, you can see why”, Prof Curtice told a UK in a Chaging Europe event on Wednesday.

“A lot will also happen about - how does our relationship with the EU evolve, to what extent does the next Labour government soften it or not?”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/p ... 34570.html

[wjfox]

[Time_Traveller]

Eurostar may cap services due to post-Brexit biometric passport checks, says station owner

Sun 4 Feb 2024 12.17 GMT

Eurostar could be forced to limit passenger numbers travelling from St Pancras each day under post-Brexit plans to bring in biometric border controls later this year, the owner of the station has warned.

HS1, the owner and operator of the line and stations between London and the Channel tunnel, has raised concerns that planning for new Entry/Exit System (EES) checks at the London rail station are “severely inadequate”, and would lead to long delays and potential capping of services and passenger numbers.

The EES requires citizens from outside the EU or Schengen area to register before entering the zone.

This will replace the stamping of passports for UK travellers, and instead require passengers to enter personal information and details about their trip, as well as submitting fingerprint and a facial biometric data.

It has been mooted that the new checks will come into force in October but its implementation has been delayed several times in recent years because the infrastructure was not ready.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... tion-owner

More on this: -

Eurotunnel says no queues with new travel system

6 May 2024, 00:41 BST



The boss of Eurotunnel has insisted there will not be long queues of cars at its terminals when a new EU travel system starts in October.

Brits heading to and from Europe will need to register fingerprints and a photo at the border, which has prompted warnings of delays.

Eurotunnel chief executive Yann Leriche said journeys would take five-to-seven minutes longer, but extra lanes and technology mean the process will go smoothly.

The BBC has had the first look at new machines people will need to use at Folkestone or Calais.

At the Port of Dover, Eurostar’s St Pancras terminus and Eurotunnel in Folkestone, French border police check passports as people leave the UK.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cg30l198yr1o

[Time_Traveller]

Brexit divergence from EU destroying UK’s vital environmental protections

Fri 19 Jan 2024 18.00 GMT

Vital legal protections for the environment and human health are being destroyed in post-Brexit departures from European legislation, a detailed analysis by the Guardian reveals.

The UK is falling behind the EU on almost every area of environmental regulation, as the bloc strengthens its legislation while the UK weakens it. In some cases, ministers are removing EU-derived environmental protections from the statute book entirely.

Businesses and environmental groups have told the Guardian they have been left in the dark as to the extent of the regressions because there is no government body tracking the divergence between the EU and the UK.

In practice, it means:

[*]Water in the UK will be dirtier than in the EU.
[*]There will be more pesticides in Britain’s soil.
[*]Companies will be allowed to produce products containing chemicals that the EU has restricted for being dangerous.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... rotections

Farmers’ union lobbied to increase pesticide limit in UK drinking water

Fri 10 May 2024 10.00 BST



The National Farmers’ Union lobbied to increase the amount of pesticides allowed in the UK’s drinking water and to allow farmers to spread manure more frequently as part of a post-Brexit loosening of environmental regulations, it can be revealed.

Nick von Westenholz, the director of strategy for the lobby group, met Timothy Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, the Earl of Minto, who is the minister of state for regulatory reform, last year and asked him to review EU-derived environmental protections.

The Guardian revealed earlier this year that the UK’s EU-derived environmental regulations were being eroded following Brexit.

According to government minutes released to Unearthed, the journalism arm of Greenpeace, after a freedom of information request, Von Westenholz told Minto in July last year: “Thresholds for pesticide residues are tiny. Burden on farmers and water companies on the amount they have to invest in systems to meet negligible requirements.”

He added: “Opposition to relaxation of standards is around the greater use of pesticides. But [there is] no evidence that increasing thresholds would do any harm.”

So, farmers are trying to cross of the second part off now, first drinking water then it will be soil next and soon we'll have no environmental regulations left.

[wjfox]

[Time_Traveller]

Soon as the Boomers start to die off, Generation X will hopefully be outnumbered and we will eventually have to give all UK citizens a second EU referendum to rejoin the EU block.

[Powers]

Soon as the Boomers start to die off, Generation X will hopefully be outnumbered and we will eventually have to give all UK citizens a second EU referendum to rejoin the EU block.

At least until millenials and genz start to turn conservative™.

[wjfox]

[wjfox]

At least until millenials and genz start to turn conservative™.

I doubt that's gonna happen though.



[Source]

[firestar464]

Huh? Boomers more con than silent in UK?

[Time_Traveller]

UK ready to build ‘closer, more mature’ trade links with EU

Tue 16 Jul 2024 05.00 BST

Britain is taking its first steps towards forging closer trading links with the EU in meetings between the new business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, and international counterparts in Italy.

In his first overseas visit since Labour’s election landslide, Reynolds will tell a G7 meeting of trade ministers in the Italian city of Reggio Calabria that the new UK government wants to foster a “closer, more mature relationship with our friends in the EU”.

Aiming to reset relations after a volatile period under successive Conservative administrations since the 2016 Brexit vote, he is expected to tell international ministers that Britain is “back on the world stage and ‘open for business’”.

Reynolds will add: “We are seeking a closer, more mature, more level-headed relationship with our friends in the European Union – our nearest and largest trading partner, and we also intend to forge better trading relationships with countries around the world.”

The meetings come as Keir Starmer tries to build closer links with Brussels by hosting EU leaders at Blenheim Palace near Oxford on Thursday, as part of a one-day European Political Community summit.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/ar ... ks-with-eu

[Time_Traveller]

No more ‘basket-case Britain’: Europe welcomes Starmer reset in UK-EU ties

Fri 19 Jul 2024 14.03 BST

Keir Starmer’s promised “reset” of the UK’s ties with the rest of Europe has drawn a positive response in European media, with one longtime journalist rejoicing that she will never again have to cover “Britain as a basket case”.

The prime minister told leaders at a meeting of the European Political Community at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire on Thursday that he wanted to draw a line under years of fractious relations with the rest of Europe. The relaunch was greeted with a sense of relief that after years of chaotic leadership in London a new age of cooperation was beginning.

Annette Dittert, the longtime London correspondent for the German public broadcaster ARD, was effusive about the vibe shift.

“Starmer managed to restore Britain’s reputation in Europe within a day. Astonishing achievement in such (a) short time,” Dittert tweeted. “‘[W]ithin a day’ is maybe a bit over the top, but still: what a complete change of tone and such a relief not having to report on Britain as a basket case any more.”

Der Spiegel noted that “after the long ice age between Berlin and London”, the German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, and Starmer got along well. It said the new prime minister’s performance in Blenheim could mark the beginning of a new “tandem” for Europe.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ar ... uk-eu-ties

[Time_Traveller]

Ireland to play pivotal role in Keir Starmer’s post-Brexit EU reset, say insiders

34 minutes ago

The EU has looked to the Irish in the past to help guide its attitude towards Britain since the Brexit vote in 2016.

Ireland was a key concern for the EU in the talks that eventually secured the UK’s exit.

At one point the EU Commission’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier even said that the 26 other member states would “stand fully behind Ireland”.

As part of his attempt to win over European leaders, The Independent understands he personally asked to greet them as they arrived. Such was Sir Keir’s enthusiasm that time was set aside for his hands-on approach to diplomacy.

On Wednesday night, Mr Harris indicated that Sir Keir, at that stage just 13 days into the job, was still teasing through with his own team what a reset in relations would look like.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/p ... 82721.html

[Time_Traveller]

Two-fifths of British berry growers could go bust by end of 2026, study finds

Tue 23 Jul 2024 14.02 BST



Two-fifths of British growers of strawberries and raspberries could go out of business by the end of 2026 amid rising costs and poor pay from supermarkets, according to a study.

Almost half of British growers said they no longer make a profit and 53% reported the financial health of their business as bad or very bad, according to a survey by British Berry Growers (BBG), an industry body that represents farmers producing 95% of the berries sold in the UK.

If problems are not addressed BBG warned of “a future massive reduction in the supply of fresh British berries”.

More than a third of those surveyed – 37% – are already considering reducing their production or moving out of berry farming entirely, while 39% said their relationship with retailers had never been this bad, according to the study.

Nick Marston, the chair of BBG, said: “We must take this survey as a wake-up call and a sign to take urgent action. The future of this great sector hangs in the balance. It would be a travesty to lose British berries.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/ar ... permarkets

[Time_Traveller]

Post-Brexit border controls slammed as ‘chaotic’ as system charges customers for checks that never took place

21 hours ago

A post-Brexit border control system has caused a string of errors with businesses mistakenly charged for goods checks that never took place, customs agents say.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has come under fire after angry businesses experienced errors with the “chaotic” customs system.

During an online meeting on Tuesday, government officials were told a consignment was not unloaded at a government-run border inspection facility at Sevington in Kent because of a design flaw in the inspection bay.

But the shipment owner was still charged for the inspection despite never happening, a customs agent complained.

Defra officials also heard how others paid for physical checks but their shipments were cleared electronically.

https://www.independent.co.uk/independe ... 97310.html

[Time_Traveller]

Brexit red tape forces UK cargo airline to fly to US for routine servicing

Sun 18 Aug 2024 12.33 BST

A fledgling British cargo airline has said Brexit red tape has forced it to go as far as the US for routine servicing and repairs, at huge environmental and financial costs.

The chief executive of One Air, Chris Hope, said the last government failed to do any Brexit impact assessment for aviation and the sector was concerned that Labour would make a similar “mysterious” omission when it opens talks with the EU about a reset in the cross-Channel trading relationship.

The company has criticised post-Brexit rules that require British pilots to be formally re-examined for identical qualifications in the EU at a substantial cost, while engineers’ hard-earned licences are rendered practically worthless outside Britain.

Part of the problem is the lack of mutual recognition for those with professional qualifications between the EU and the UK, something that also causes problems for architects and accountants.

One Air’s problem is compounded by its position as the only company in the UK operating Boeing 747s.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ar ... -servicing