Brexit
UK faces extra €2bn EU pensions bill
The UK faces being slapped with a surprise €2 billion EU pensions bill, as a result of a 21% increase in EU officials' pension liabilities.
Post-Brexit trade pact suffers setback as ‘disagreements’ end talks early
The prospects of a post-Brexit EU-UK trade deal being brokered this year suffered a new setback on Thursday (2 July) as the first round of in-person talks since the coronavirus pandemic broke up a day earlier with both sides citing ‘significant disagreements’.
The Brief – Global Britain: We’re just not that into EU
As vacuous slogans go, ‘Global Britain’, launched when Theresa May took over Brexit Britain from David Cameron in 2016, has been hard to beat. In 2018, UK lawmakers urged the government to set out what its international partners could expect...
Merkel kicks off EU presidency with Brexit warning
The European Union must prepare for the possibility that talks with Britain on their post-Brexit relationship could fail, Chancellor Angela Merkel warned Wednesday (1 July) as Germany took the helm of the bloc's rotating presidency.
COVID-19 pandemic poses new risks to EU citizens in UK, rights groups warn
The coronavirus pandemic risks creating new problems and uncertainty for potential applicants to the UK's EU Settlement Scheme and those who have already been given pre-settled status, citizens’ rights groups have warned Boris Johnson's government.
EU-UK cross-border data flows: New digital walls for the economy?
Data needs to continue to flow between the UK and the EU. The EU should limit safeguards to only those needed to protect personal data, writes Andrea Giuricin.
UK sets September deadline for EU trade deal
The UK has earmarked September as its deadline for agreeing on a new trade deal with the EU after negotiators held their first face-to-face meetings since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
Five crucial weeks to determine post-Brexit era
The EU and Britain launch an intense five weeks of negotiations on a deal to define their post-Brexit relations on Monday, with London keen to wrap things up quickly.
Commission uncertain on future UK data adequacy agreement
The European Commission has said that it 'cannot predict' whether the UK will be fit for a data transfer adequacy agreement with the EU as part of ongoing negotiations on a future trade deal between the two parties.
EU students to face higher fees for English universities
Students from the European Union starting university in England next year will have to pay higher fees under funding changes introduced as a result of Brexit, the government said Tuesday (23 June).
UK lawmakers back Brexit compromise to avoid ‘no deal’ chaos
UK lawmakers have urged Boris Johnson and Michel Barnier to broker a compromise to avoid an economically damaging ‘no deal’ Brexit scenario.
Montchalin: €500 billion in budgetary allocations to ‘be maintained at all costs’
Ahead of tomorrow's EU summit (19 June), France's European Affairs Minister Amélie de Montchalin told EURACTIV's partner Ouest-France in an interview that the EU27, including the "frugal four", are moving towards accepting an EU recovery programme, but that it would not work without reforms and long-term investment.
The Brief – Ambition alone won’t pay the EU’s COVID-19 bill
Back in the dog days of 2012 and 2013, even the best friends of Jose Manuel Barroso and Herman van Rompuy – then running the EU show – would have struggled to argue that their EU budget blueprint was ambitious. It was deliberately and consciously timid.
Johnson and von der Leyen kick the Brexit can into autumn
Trade talks between the European Union and the UK will be stepped up in July with a view to brokering a deal in the autumn, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed on Monday (15 June)
Low expectations as Johnson joins EU leaders to break Brexit deadlock
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will join a video-conference with EU leaders on Monday (15 June), keen to make headway in negotiations on a future EU-UK relationship, but officials in Brussels expect no breakthrough in the Brexit deadlock.
UK repeats ‘no extension’ mantra but backtracks on import controls
The UK government said on Friday (12 June) that it had given the EU formal notice it would not agree to an extension on the post-Brexit trade talks, while at the same time taking a step back on its position for import controls.
Business leaders warn about ‘no deal’ Brexit as battle lines harden
UK business leaders warned on Thursday (11 June) that they were being led towards a no-deal Brexit that they are ill-prepared for, as both the EU and UK negotiators toughen their stances.
No breakthrough in Brexit stalemate, admits Barnier
The stalemate on EU-UK trade talks remains unbroken both sides conceded on Friday (5 June), with the EU again accusing London of attempting to back-track on its commitments made in the Withdrawal Agreement that took the UK out of the bloc in January.
UK proposes own carbon market, remains coy on link with EU ETS
The United Kingdom has put forward its own new UK-wide Emissions Trading System (ETS) to replace the European Union’s system for trading carbon emissions, which Britain will leave at the end of this year as the Brexit transition period ends.
Moving to WTO terms carries major economic health warning for UK
The UK may be moving closer to trading with the EU on World Trade Organisation terms, but that could carry a major additional economic hit as London faces up to the costs of the coronavirus pandemic.
Barnier: Britain not automatically entitled to any trade benefits
The European Union's Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, said on Wednesday (20 May) that Britain was not automatically entitled to any benefits that the bloc had previously granted to other partners on trade.
UK accepts customs checks in plans for Northern Ireland protocol
The UK has accepted that there will be new checks on some goods entering Northern Ireland from the rest of the UK, according to the plans it set out on Wednesday (20 May) to implement the controversial protocol on the province
EU meat and cars will face tariffs in no-deal scenario, warns UK
The UK will slap tariffs on EU meat and cars from January 2021 if a new trade agreement with the bloc is not finalised by the end of the year, Boris Johnson’s government said on Tuesday (19 May).