Tag: European Union

UK’s Theresa May Orders Retreat to Sort Out Brexit Details

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Theresa May

Reuters   Prime Minister Theresa May will gather together squabbling British ministers gather country residence after this month’s European Union summit to settle on details of a much-anticipated Brexit policy paper. May has yet to agree on some of the fundamental details of what type of trading relationship she wants to have with the European Union after Britain leaves next March. As a result, talks with the EU have all but ground to ahalt, raising fears among businesses and in Brussels that Britain could end up crashing out of the bloc without an agreed-upon deal. “There’s going to be a lot happening over the next few weeks. You know, people want us to get on with it, and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” May told reporters on her way to a G-7 summit in Canada. May will look to the June 28-29 EU summit as a chance to pin down some of the most troublesome details of Britain’s exit agreement and pave the way for more intensive talks on the all-important future economic partnership between the world’s fifth-largest economy and the world’s biggest trading bloc. But senior ministers are still at odds about what type of post-Brexit customs arrangement will be…

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Russia Hits Back Against EU Countries in Spy Row

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Russia Hits Back

Russia on Friday expelled Dutch diplomats and told Britain it had one month to reduce its diplomatic presence in the country, hitting back at EU countries after a coordinated campaign by the UK and its allies over a nerve agent attack on a former spy. Earlier in the day Russia had summoned the ambassadors of a number of nations including Britain, France, Germany and Canada to inform them of retaliatory measures.

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Highlights from the Final Brexit Agreement

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David Davis and Michael Barnier

by Rev. Ben Johnson   On Monday afternoon, David Davis of the UK and Michel Barnier of the EU revealed that their governments had agreed on the shape of their relationship during the first two years after Brexit. Here’s what it will look like: A 21-month transition period: The UK will officially leave the European Union on March 29, 2019. Monday’s announcement adds a 21-month transition period, which will end on December 31, 2020. During this phase, the UK will enjoy all “the benefits, the advantages of the single market and the customs union,” Barnier said at today’s joint press conference in Brussels. The UK hoped for a full two years, but Davis deemed the agreed time limit “close enough.” Businesses had hoped for a period of stability to adjust to a post-Brexit business environment, and the government wanted more time to negotiate a final agreement with the EU. Adam Marshall of the British Chambers of Commerce called the agreement “a milestone that many businesses across the UK have been waiting for.” The UK will accept EU decisions with no input: In that 21-month period, the UK will be a rule taker, not a rule maker. The UK agrees to “be bound by the obligations…

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Brexit Rebel MPs Compromise with UK Govt Over Key Bill

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BREXIT EU

British Prime Minister Theresa May was set to avoid a damaging parliamentary defeat after rebels in her party appeared to strike a compromise over the exact timing of Brexit. The government is trying to pass major domestic legislation to implement Brexit, and had wanted to enshrine the leaving date of March 29, 2019 in British law, two years after serving its intention to withdraw.

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