Senior EU figures are contemplating a major reset in relations with the UK that would coincide with the formal ratification of the free trade agreement at the end of April, RTÉ News has learned.

The idea would be for both sides to work towards a package of solutions around the outstanding issues of the Northern Ireland Protocol, as well as other areas of tension, such as the status of the EU’s delegation to the UK.

Senior figures have confirmed to RTÉ News that a formal, set-piece event marking the ratification of the Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA), which was concluded by both sides on Christmas Eve, could inaugurate a more harmonious relationship.

It is understood very tentative discussions have been under way at a senior level between officials in Brussels and London.

There has been a fractious start to the new post-Brexit relationship from the beginning of January, with simmering tension over the Northern Ireland Protocol, vaccine procurement, the diplomatic rights of the EU ambassador to the UK, and the alleged discrimination against citizens from a number of eastern European member states over UK work visas.

The fear among senior EU officials is that unless there is a clear reset then the relationship could become one of perpetual tension.

Some observers have seen the appointment of David Frost, the former UK Brexit negotiator, to the role of overseeing the future relationship as reflective of a dynamic that could be more about confrontation than co-operation.

The European Parliament is expected to formally ratify the TCA on 24 March, meaning national capitals would give their final and formal consent to the treaty early to mid-April.

Senior figures envisage a possible “handshake” moment involving British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and EU leaders that would symbolically mark a new, more harmonious era in relations.

This would ideally coincide with both sides signing off on a package of solutions to the most contentious outstanding issues, especially the Northern Ireland Protocol and the London embassy issue.

However, it is understood that there would have to be hard negotiations in the coming weeks in order to provide the political space for a genuine reset.

The Northern Ireland Protocol remains the most difficult issue, following the European Commission’s move to invoke Article 16 at the end of January.

Demands by unionists for the protocol to be scrapped have thus far fallen on deaf ears, but London and Brussels remain some distance apart on how to resolve the deepening antagonism over trade barriers on goods moving from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

In December, both sides reached agreement on how to implement the protocol, which came into effect on 1 January.

A grace period, during which Northern Ireland supermarkets importing huge volumes of food from Great Britain would be absolved from needing expensive and cumbersome documentation, expires on 1 April.

A meeting on Wednesday of the EU-UK Joint Committee, co-chaired by commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič and his UK counterpart Michael Gove, concluded with no real breakthrough on the outstanding issues.

It is understood Mr. Šefčovič has requested another joint committee meeting before the end of March, ahead of the deadline for the grace period to end.

The UK has asked for two grace periods, related to food safety rules, to be extended until 1 January 2023.

Source: https://www.rte.ie/news/brexit/2021/0225/1199472-eu-uk-relationship/

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A government spokeswoman said it ‘reflects a responsible government ensuring we are ready for all eventualities’

Emergency plans drawn up by the government to protect the UK if a second coronavirus spike coincides with a no-deal Brexit have been revealed.

A Cabinet Office “reasonable worst-case scenario” document, dated July 2020, has been leaked to The Sun newspaper.

A government spokeswoman said it “reflects a responsible government ensuring we are ready for all eventualities”.

There could be power and petrol shortages if thousands of lorries end up stranded in Dover. File pic

The dossier warns that the military could be required to airdrop food to the Channel Islands.

The navy may be required to stop British fishermen clashing with illegal European fishing boat incursions, the document adds.

There could be power and petrol shortages in parts of the UK if thousands of lorries end up stranded in Dover, it also warns.

In addition, the assessment says shortages of medicines due to port blockages could lead to animal diseases spreading through the countryside.

It also warns of the possibility of hospitals being overwhelmed, if trade restrictions sparked by a no-deal Brexit combine with floods, flu and a second wave of coronavirus.

The prospect of town halls going bust is mentioned, along with the possibility of deploying troops on the streets if there is public disorder.

The number of coronavirus cases and deaths where you live – and where the latest hotspots are

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There are fears that the winter months could see a second wave of COVID-19 in the UK.

The latest available statistics show that more than 324,000 people have tested positive for the virus in the UK.

A total of 41,423 people have died in the UK within 28 days of testing positive for the disease.

Britain left the EU in January after 47 years of membership and is currently in an 11-month transition period, which means it is continuing to follow the bloc’s rules and regulations.

This time frame is being used to negotiate a free trade agreement and sort out the terms of the future relationship that will govern ties between the UK and the EU moving forward.

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Both sides have said a deal needs to be agreed by October in order for it to be ratified in time, but so far there has been no breakthrough.

Speaking after the latest round of talks finished earlier this week, EU negotiator Michel Barnier said it felt “as if we were going backwards more than forwards”.

UK negotiator David Frost said that while the latest negotiations in Brussels had been “useful”, there had been “little progress”.

Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove said: “We got Brexit done with a great deal in January and we are working flat out to make sure the United Kingdom is ready for the changes and huge opportunities at the end of the year as we regain our political and economic independence for the first time in almost 50 years.

“Part of this work includes routine contingency planning for various scenarios that we do not think will happen, but we must be ready for come what may.

“Whether we trade with the EU on terms similar to Canada or to Australia, a brighter future awaits as we forge our own path.”

A government spokeswoman added that “intensive planning is under way to help ensure that businesses and citizens are ready to take advantage of the opportunities and changes” that leaving the bloc’s single market and customs union will bring.

She continued: “As a responsible government we continue to make extensive preparations for a wide range of scenarios, including the reasonable worst case.

“This is not a forecast or prediction of what will happen but rather a stretching scenario.

“It reflects a responsible government ensuring we are ready for all eventualities.”

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/revealed-emergency-plans-to-protect-uk-if-second-coronavirus-spike-coincides-with-no-deal-brexit-12055049

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BORIS Johnson’s suggestion that the UK could be prepared to accept an Australian-style relationship with the EU without a formal trade deal has “surprised” Brussels.

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen pointed out that even Australia wants a better trading relationship with the bloc than the one it currently has.

She said the UK and EU should be “way more ambitious”.

In a speech outlining the UK’s negotiating objectives, Mr. Johnson said the question was whether to seek a Canadian-style which eliminates most tariffs and quotas or a looser Australian-style deal.

The British prime minister insisted that “in either case, the UK will prosper”.

But speaking in the European Parliament, Ms von der Leyen said both models fell short of a deal which would meet the goals of allowing trade without tariffs and quotas.

It comes after senior British minister Michael Gove said on Monday that goods coming to Britain from the EU will face import controls from January 1.

He said traders in Britain and the EU will have to submit customs declarations and be liable to goods checks once the Brexit transition period finishes at the end of the year.

The British Retail Consortium said the government would have to move fast to get the infrastructure in place for 2021, warning that without adequate preparations the availability of goods on shelves would be disrupted, with fresh fruit and vegetables especially vulnerable.

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood said it was “a long way from the promise of frictionless trade and borders of the future”.

“The effect of insisting on trade barriers with the EU is that businesses here that rely on GB market supply for component parts or for access to freight, for example, will face new financial, logistics and supply burdens,” he said.

Source: http://www.irishnews.com/news/brexit/2020/02/12/news/eu-surprised-at-boris-johnson-s-brexit-stance-1840117/

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Boris Johnson was born in New York City to British parents, but renounced his U.S. citizenship in 2016 amid a taxes crackdown by the Internal Revenue Service on the global earnings of dual nationals. He last lived in the United States as a five-year-old.

“Boris Johnson is a friend of mine. He has been very, very nice to me, very supportive,” President Donald Trump said in July last year after Johnson resigned as May’s foreign secretary over her handling of Britain’s attempt to leave the European Union – Brexit.

Like Trump, Johnson appears to enjoy the limelight and attracts controversy wherever he goes. He was once forced into an apology to the nation of Papua New Guinea for comparing infighting in his Conservative Party to “Papua New Guinea-style orgies of cannibalism and chief-killing.” He was fired as a journalist for making up a quote.

May’s fraught three-year tenure in office will officially end on June 7, she announced Friday. The 62-year-old Conservative Party leader was forced from power for similar reasons. She will remain as a caretaker prime minister until Conservative Party lawmakers and members vote to elect a successor. In Britain, the public elects a party, not a candidate, meaning the government stays the same for now, until there is an election. The process is expected to take about six weeks. First, Conservative Party lawmakers hold a series of votes to whittle the field down to two candidates. Then, those two candidates are voted on by party members across the country.

Theresa May: Britain’s embattled leader resigns premiership amid Brexit deadlock

Experts say that whoever ends up as Britain’s next leader won’t dramatically rewrite one of the closest diplomatic, economic and military alliances in history: The “special relationship” between the U.S. and Britain, a phrase and diplomatic modus operandi coined by former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1946.

British-American goodwill has accrued through two world wars, the Cold War, several conflicts in the Middle East and close cooperation in fighting international terrorism. Often, it’s said, the two nations are only divided by a common language.

Trump has described his relationship with May as the “highest level of special,” but the two leaders did clash on the substance of policy – his Muslim travel ban, in particular –and the new partnership is not expected to be all plain sailing and photo ops, either.

“The special relationship hasn’t been so special recently,” said Tim Bale, a politics professor at Queen Mary, University of London.

“Partly because the president couldn’t stop himself criticizing the way May had gone about Brexit, and partly because she and other British politicians have been a little wary about associating themselves too closely with a guy who most Brits (rightly or wrongly) treat as either downright dangerous or a laughingstock, or both. Whoever takes over won’t be looking for a full-on (b)romance.”

Richard Whitman, a professor of politics at the University of Kent, said the “chemistry between May and Trump was awkward.” But he said Johnson-Trump would be different, calling it a “clash for the title of the greatest showman.”

Meet the main contenders

Boris Johnson

Johnson, 54, is the bookmakers’ favorite to succeed May. He is a direct descendant of King George II — his full name is Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson — and he has passed through many hallowed corridors of the British establishment. There was Eton College and the University of Oxford, where he was in the same classes as former British Prime Minister David Cameron. In addition to foreign secretary, Johnson has been London’s mayor. He also was a journalist, editing The Spectator, a longstanding political magazine. Johnson is a leading supporter of Brexit. He has spoken of his admiration for Trump on several occasions, although when mayor he also said the U.S. president was “clearly out of his mind.” Johnson is well-known in Britain for his tussled blonde hair and frequent classical allusions in speeches. One in four Britons think he would make a good prime minister, according to a survey by YouGov, a research firm.

Michael Gove

Another prominent supporter of Britain leaving the EU, Gove, 51, is currently minister for the environment. He had a cabinet-level role in Cameron’s government and he is viewed as a seasoned operator with extremely good debating skills. (While at Oxford, Gove was president of the debating society.) Like Johnson, Gove is also a former journalist and he made headlines in Britain when he secured the first interview with Trump for a British publication after his election in 2016. Gove boasted in that interview for the Times of London that he spent an hour with the president-elect in his “glitzy, golden man cave” in Trump Tower, in New York City. Trump told Gove that Britain was “smart to leave the EU.” Gove predicted Trump would resign or lose the 2020 election. If he ends up as Trump’s new British counterpart some of his comments out of the interview may come back to haunt him: “He is someone who is clearly narcissistic or egotistical enough to want to be seen as a success,” Gove said of Trump.

Sajid Javid

Javid, 49, has held various cabinet-level positions in Conservative Party governments, most recently as home secretary, or interior minister. He is the son of a former bus driver from Pakistan and represents the relatively new face of British conservatism. Javid voted to stay in the EU in the referendum but has since campaigned aggressively for Britain to abide by the vote’s outcome, and leave. He is known for taking a hard line on immigration and has been a fiercely vocal opponent of letting the wives and children of former Islamic State group fighters return to Britain. In one example, that of Shamima Begun, who fled to Syria’s battlefields at 15, Javid is trying to revoke her citizenship in a case that mirrors that of New Jersey-born Hoda Muthana. The Trump administration is trying to block Muthana’s return in a Washington court.

Andrea Leadsom

Leadsom, 56, was the last candidate standing against May in the 2016 race to succeed Cameron. She resigned Wednesday as leader of the House of Commons – a job responsible for arranging the order of government business in Britain’s Parliament –in protest at May’s then-refusal to step aside over Brexit. Leadsom is an ardent backer of Brexit but she stumbled during the leadership contest with May three years ago after she implied in an interview with a British newspaper that she thought she would make a better prime minister than May because being a mother gave her an “advantage” over the childless May. “I have children who are going to have children who will directly be part of what happens next,” Leadsom said in the BBC interview.Leadsom also appeared to inflate her experience working in financial services.

Dominic Raab

Raab, 45, worked for an international law firm that litigated against war criminals before joining Britain’s foreign diplomatic corp as an advisor in 2000. He has a black belt in karate and boxes regularly. Raab resigned earas Brexit secretary in May’s government so that he could vote against her EU withdrawal deal. He only served five months in the role. In interviews with the British press, Raab has spoken of wanting to get a “fairer deal for working Britain.” He would do this, he said, by cutting taxes.

Who else could become Britain’s next prime minister?

• Penny Mordaunt, 46, Britain’s first female defense secretary
• Amber Rudd, 55, powerful former interior minister
• Jeremy Hunt, 52, replaced Boris Johnson as foreign secretary
• Kit Malthouse, 52, former deputy London mayor
• David Davis, former Brexit secretary
• James Cleverly, 49, junior Brexit minister
• Graham Brady, 51, chair of the 1992 Committee that helped oust May
• Liz Truss, 43, a treasury official
• Justine Greening, 50, former education minister
• Matt Hancock, 40, ex-economist at the Bank of England, Britain’s central bank
• Rory Stewart, 46, international development secretary
• Esther McVey, 51, former work and pensions minister
  

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  Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2019/05/24/trump-friend-boris-johnson-leading-race-replace-theresa-may/1202769001/

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