‘We’ve done it’ says Boris Johnson, as Brexit bill finally passes parliament January 22, 2020 Boris Johnson has urged the country to put “the rancour and division of the last three years” behind it and “move forwards as one”, following the passage of his Brexit bill. The Withdrawal Agreement Bill, which was blocked repeatedly by the Commons prior to December’s election, last night finally finished its parliamentary stages and will [...]
Mairead McGuinness: Meet the EU’s future finance boss September 10, 2020 Mairead McGuinness was this week nominated as the new EU financial services commissioner following the recent resignation of her Irish counterpart and EU trade chief Phil Hogan. Mr Hogan departs having found himself in the centre of a “golfgate” scandal, breaking lockdown rules by attending a dinner in County Galway, Ireland, with more than 80 [...]
EU may need to extend trade deal talks with UK, says von der Leyen December 27, 2019 The European Union may have to extend the deadline for talks over a new trading relationship with Britain, according to European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. Von der Leyen told French paper Les Echos that both sides need to think seriously about whether there is enough time to negotiate a new trade deal. Read [...]
Downing Street to publish draft FTA before second round of trade talks March 9, 2020 Downing Street is planning to publish draft legal texts including a free trade agreement ahead of the second round of trade talks with the EU, government revealed today. Boris Johnson’s sherpa David Frost met with his counterpart Michel Barnier last week for the first round of talks, with both sides agreeing there were significant differences, [...]
Microsoft chief executive calls for ‘data dignity’ at Davos January 23, 2020 The chief executive of Microsoft has called for “data dignity” and that data and privacy be thought of as a human right. Speaking at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Satya Nadella said: “Data dignity goes further than privacy. People’s data has a value.” It came as part of a discussion on technology and globalisation [...]
Brexit: UK to leave EU with a deal on 31 January January 9, 2020 MPs today backed Boris Johnson’s Brexit Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB) by majority of 99, clearing the way for the UK to leave the European Union with an exit deal on 31 January. Parliamentarians voted 330 to 231 in favour of the bill, which implements an exit deal agreed with the EU last year. After three [...]
Sadiq Khan calls for extension to Brexit transition period June 1, 2020 Sadiq Khan has called for an extension to the 31 December deadline for Brexit trade talks between the UK and EU as the two sides meet for the latest negotiating round today. The mayor of London wrote today to chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove, the minister responsible for the talks, to say [...]
Brexit: No breakthroughs expected in fresh round of UK-EU trade talks June 1, 2020 No major breakthroughs are expected in Brexit trade talks this week as UK and EU negotiators remain deadlocked on several major areas. Sources close to the UK negotiating team said they were not expecting much progress on the biggest flashpoints – such as EU access to UK fishing waters and business competition regulations – over [...]
Brexit: Michel Barnier says he cannot allow UK to ‘cherry pick’ in negotiations June 10, 2020 Brussels’ chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has said he will not allow the UK to “cherry pick” benefits of EU membership in a free trade deal. Barnier told the EU’s Economic and Social Committee today that the UK was asking for “a lot more than Canada, Japan or any of our other free trade agreement [...]
EU to seal world’s biggest ever vaccine deal with Pfizer April 23, 2021 The EU is on the brink of signing the biggest single deal yet for Covid-19 vaccines with Pfizer in the coming days. Under the deal, the bloc will buy up 1.8bn doses of the Pfizer-Biontech’s vaccine, adding to the 600m shots it has already contracted from the firms. European Commission president Ursula van der Leyen [...]