EU’s Barnier says still looking for a way to do UK trade deal December 5, 2020 The European Union’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier said earlier today he would continue to look for a way to do a trade deal with Britain, but was non-committal on the chances of bridging the current impasse in the Brexit talks. “We keep calm, as always, and if there is still a way, we will see,” [...]
ALL 27 EU member states must still approve any UK trade deal, warns Council president December 4, 2020 European Council President Charles Michel warned today that any agreement between UK and EU negotiators must still be approved by all 27 member states. Michel said the 27 leaders – meeting remotely on 10 and 11 December – will take a position on the latest developments, as a deal on future relations between the EU [...]
Switzerland to sign deal with UK allowing free travel for professional workers December 4, 2020 Switzerland is set to sign off on a deal with the UK this afternoon allowing professional workers to travel freely between the two countries after Britain leaves the EU. The agreement will mean around 383,000 Brits who regularly make business trips to the country will not need work permits to keep doing so post-Brexit. Switzerland [...]
O Come, Emmanuel: Hopes of Brexit trade deal run thin as Macron toughens stance December 4, 2020 The latest Brexit talks between the UK and EU “did not go well”, according to reports, as British officials accused French President Emmanuel Macron of making fresh demands at the eleventh hour. Macron is understood to have remained unwavering in his demand that France preserves a substantial portion of existing fishing rights in British waters [...]
Swift vaccine approval is a British success story December 4, 2020 It was wonderful to wake up on Wednesday to some good news. Yes, the UK Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has approved the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for Covid-19. The first doses of the vaccine could be delivered as early as next week. The MHRA’s swift approval makes it the first agency in a western [...]
Tesco CEO: Movement of product is the biggest Brexit issue December 3, 2020 The movement of products across borders is the biggest issue facing supermarkets because of Brexit, not food price inflation, the chief executive of Tesco has said. Speaking on Sky News today, CEO Ken Murphy said: “The biggest challenge we face really is the movement of product between borders, the movement of product between Great Britain [...]
FTSE 100 falls back as Brexit negotiations drag on December 3, 2020 The FTSE 100 fell back this morning after the French government threatened to veto a Brexit trade deal if EU negotiators gave further concessions to the UK. London’s premier index dropped 0.4 per cent start as trading opened, while the FTSE 250 of midcap companies picked up 0.1 per cent. Brexit talks are ongoing between [...]
French regulator calls on EU to fix derivatives rules to lessen Brexit hit December 3, 2020 French securities regulator the AMF has told the EU that it should fix its derivatives trading rules to avoid damage to its own financial sector once the UK finally leaves the bloc on 1 January. Robert Ophele, the AMF’s chair, said that if rules were not amended it would penalise European banks trading in London. [...]
Exclusive: Capital gains tax on French properties to soar for UK residents post-Brexit December 2, 2020 UK residents with a second home in France will have to pay substantially more capital gains tax on property sales starting from next year when Britain leaves the Brexit transition period. French tax authorities confirmed today that UK residents will no longer benefit from the EU exemption from a social levies tax and will need [...]
Government slammed for relying ‘too much’ on management consultants in Brexit preparations December 1, 2020 The government relies “too much” on management consultants for work on Brexit preparations “that could be better done by civil servants”, the select committee on government spending has warned. In a wide-ranging report published today, the Public Accounts Committee slammed the government’s negligence of civil servants in preparing for Brexit, amid warnings that ministers are [...]