Brexit
Ireland nets 25% of EU’s fund to cover Brexit costs
Ireland will receive more than €1 billion from the EU's Brexit Adjustment Fund, making it the biggest single beneficiary of the €4.24 billion Fund, according to figures released on Wednesday (13 January).
UK agrees more time for EU to ratify post-Brexit pact
The UK government agreed Tuesday (23 February) to allow the European Union more time to formally ratify the post-Brexit trade deal which came into effect on January 1.
Britain’s au pair system ‘killed’ by Brexit
Once a childcare mainstay for many working parents, Britain's au pair system is under threat after Brexit – piling pressure on families and forcing some mothers to consider quitting their jobs.
Northern Irish Brexit issue is two-way street, says EU’s Sefcovic
Britain must show it is fully using the avenues available under the Brexit divorce deal to minimise trade disruption in Northern Ireland before seeking concessions, a senior EU official said on Tuesday (23 February).
The Brief, powered by APPLIA – The price of unfinished business
It would be something of an understatement to say that there have been a few teething problems in the first two months of the brave new EU-UK trading world. The stories of rotting fish, visa-less musicians and lorries turned away...
Northern Ireland parties take legal action against Brexit deal
Members of Northern Ireland's two largest pro-British parties are set to take part in legal action challenging part of Britain's divorce deal with the European Union, the parties said on Sunday (21 February).
UK fintechs seek ‘cure for Brexit’ in Lithuania
Thanks in part to Brexit, Lithuania is becoming a fintech hub as a growing number of UK-linked digital financial companies are getting licences there so they can continue to operate in the European Union.
The Brief, powered by FACEBOOK – The horse and his cart of euros
The €750 billion Eurobond to pay for the bloc’s recovery from the COVID pandemic “will pave the way for a treasury and common EU taxation”, a cross-party group of EU lawmakers have argued on these pages this week. It’s a...
Johnson drafts in trade chief as Brexit enforcer
Boris Johnson on Wednesday (17 February) drafted his chief Brexit negotiator David Frost as a senior minister in his cabinet with a portfolio as Brexit enforcer.
The Brief, powered by FACEBOOK – Another pointless act
The theatre and live music are two of the joys of life that have fallen victim to the coronavirus pandemic. After a year of silence in our theatres, concert halls and stadiums, with vaccine programmes moving apace (touch wood!), we should be able to enjoy these delights again in the coming months.
Commission right to call London’s bluff
The UK Government has been shamelessly using the Commission’s gaffe about Article 16 of the Ireland/Northern Ireland Protocol in its attempts to avoid the blame for post-Brexit problems and to lever additional concessions from Brussels, writes Dick Roche.
Amsterdam displaces London as Europe’s top stocks centre after Brexit
Amsterdam has displaced London as Europe's biggest share trading centre after Britain left the European Union's single market, and picked up a chunk of UK derivatives business along the way, according to data published on Thursday (11 February).
EU rejects most UK demands on Northern Ireland trade, concedes on steel
The European Union rejected on Wednesday (10 February) most of Britain's demands for easier trade with Northern Ireland but said it was examining more flexibility on steel.
The Article 16 row is liable to happen again unless lessons are learned
The row over the European Commission's short-lived plan to use the Northern Ireland Protocol to stop exports of COVID-19 vaccines is over for now. But it could easily flare up again, writes John Bruton.
Don’t wage battle against the City, UK bank governor urges EU
The Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, on Tuesday (10 February) urged the EU not to wage a regulatory battle against the UK on financial services, warning that “a world in which the EU dictates and determines what rules and standards we have in the UK is not going to work.”
EU will request extension to pass Brexit deal, says UK’s Frost
The UK expects the EU to ask for a two month extension to ratify the new post-Brexit trade deal, David Frost, London's chief negotiator on the pact, told UK lawmakers on Tuesday (9 February).
The Brief, powered by GSMA – The protocol price
Accepting the Northern Ireland Protocol was the price that the UK's Conservative MPs had to pay for Brexit. Even so, they did so very reluctantly, at the fourth time of asking, and only after replacing Theresa May with Boris Johnson as prime minister.
UK will demand ‘refinements’ to Irish protocol from EU, says Gove
The UK will demand that the EU agree to changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol in talks in the coming days, Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove said on Monday (8 February).
UK denies 68% drop in EU exports after Brexit deal
The UK government on Sunday (7 February) denied reports by road hauliers that exports to the EU fell by two thirds in the first month of the new UK-EU trade deal, saying: "We do not recognise this figure".
UK ‘in denial’ over fisheries losses from Brexit deal
Fishing communities are still counting the costs of lost business resulting from the new bureaucratic requirements for them to export seafood to the EU market and the UK government is in 'denial', industry leaders told UK lawmakers on Thursday (4 February).
Irish government slaps down UK bid to reopen NI protocol
Irish Foreign minister Simon Coveney ruled out on Thursday (4 February) the possibility of the Northern Ireland protocol being scrapped or renegotiated, following growing pressure on the issue from Boris Johnson's UK government.
A disunited kingdom
The EU-made "crisis" with the Northern Ireland Protocol is an opportunity for Boris Johnson to distract domestic audience from the threat that his Brexit spells for the unity of the United Kingdom, writes Dick Roche.
How the vaccine export control blunder exposed von der Leyen’s ‘flawed’ centralism
Relevant EU commissioners were not consulted and staffer members had less than 30 minutes for a “quick check” before the EU's proposed vaccine export control mechanism was presented to journalists last Friday (29 January), officials told EURACTIV.
Northern Ireland’s ruling party launches campaign to scrap EU’s Brexit border protocol
The leading party in Northern Ireland on Tuesday (2 February) launched a campaign to scrap the protocol for the province that lies at the heart of the UK’s Withdrawal Agreement with the EU.