Brexit: Digest of business-focussed articles from national and international media, selected by George Hamilton. Some may require a subscription to obtain the full version (paywall).
In this issue
- What worries NI business most about Brexit.
- Brussels-London row over extent of GB to NI border checks?
- But new NI Secretary still gung-ho over “no checks”
- UK-EU at each other’s throats when talks start
- US free trade pact: Trump anger means EU first in line, UK No2
- Money in the Caymans? Be careful
- And how UK could be “sleeping with the fishes” after 2021
- Invest NI reveals businesses have Brexit concerns about tariffs, tax and customers
Customers, tariffs and taxation are the leading Brexit concerns for businesses in Northern Ireland, economic development agency Invest NI has said.
“The difficulty for smaller businesses is they don’t have the resources,” Donal Durkan, in charge of strategy at Invest NI said. “The NI protocol won’t be resolved until June of July so the timescale to put into place what they need to do will be short.”
Invest NI also said that the level of foreign investment and interest has not been diminished by Brexit as companies come to Northern Ireland for services in addition to their main office function.
The meeting comes after it was revealed Belfast had fallen down the rankings of European cities in a report on preferred investment destinations
Belfast was recognised as the second best city in the world for its FDI strategy in December 2018.
However, a year after being ranked as the best mid-small city in the world for business friendliness, it’s now at number eight on the list.
Belfast Telegraph 13 Feb
How Boris Johnson’s reshuffle could mean a major clash with the EU is looming over “border in Irish Sea”
When it comes to flashpoints in future EU-UK negotiations, there has been much focus on fish and financial services. But a more immediate concern looms when EU-UK talks open next month: the coming border in the Irish Sea.
Michel Barnier, the bloc’s chief negotiator, said checks are an “indispensable” consequence of the UK’s decision to leave the single market and customs union. Only by conducting the checks in the Irish Sea can they be avoided on the Irish mainland.
In recent weeks there have been increasing rumblings in Westminster that Mr Johnson might not actually not institute physical checks at the border.
“Put it this way, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the UK didn’t rush to gold plate the Irish Protocol,” said a source familiar with the Johnson Government’s thinking.
The precise nature of the controls will depend on the UK’s trade deal with the EU, but even a zero-tariff deal will still require checks for regulatory compliance and rules of origin content to qualify for that zero-tariff access.
British negotiation sources said the Government does not dispute its obligations, which are enshrined in a jointly ratified international treaty, but added cryptically that there will always be discussion about “how zealously those obligations are enforced”.
New NI Secretary Brandon Lewis: “no border in Irish Sea”
Mr Lewis said the “United Kingdom is going to be one area and all will be able to benefit from our future global trade deals”.
“We are absolutely clear, as a UK government, we will not be having a border down the Irish Sea.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-
BBC NI News 14 Feb
Brexit: Britain and EU ‘will rip each other apart’ in trade talks
Britain and the European Union are going to rip each other apart in talks over a future trade deal, the French foreign minister, Jean-Yves Le Drian, has predicted, while also holding out hope that UK defence co-operation with Europe will continue.
Speaking at the Munich security forum, he added it would be tough for Britain to achieve its aim of a free trade deal by the end of the year given the differences between the two sides.
Le Drian said: “I think on trade issues and the mechanism for future relations, which we are going to start on, we are going to rip each each other apart.”
Guardian 16 Feb
Donald Trump set to strike a trade deal with the EU ahead of the UK
The Trump administration is set to prioritise trade talks with the EU over trade talks with the UK, despite previous assurances that Boris Johnson’s government would be at “the front of the line” for a trade deal.
White House Economic adviser Larry Kudlow said that restarting talks with the EU “will be easier” than starting from scratch with the UK.
Diplomatic relations between Donald Trump and Boris Johnson have cooled significantly in recent weeks following Johnson’s decision to back Chinese telecoms company Huawei
The decision prompted a furious call from Trump at the end of which he “slammed down” the phone on Johnson.
https://apple.news/
Business Insider 12 Feb
For those with a stash of cash in the Cayman’s..beware..
In wake of Brexit, EU to put Cayman Islands on tax haven blacklist
The Cayman Islands, a British overseas territory, is to be put on an EU blacklist of tax havens, less than two weeks after the UK’s withdrawal from the bloc.
In a clear indication of the country’s loss of influence on the EU’s decision-making, the bloc’s 27 finance ministers are expected to sign off on the decision this week.
The decision will be seen as a shot across the bows of the UK ahead of negotiations on the future relationship with the bloc.
https://www.theguardian.com/
The Guardian 13 Feb
And finally, a punningly amusing piece by Robert Shrimsley in the FT. If you can access it, it’s well worth reading in full
The UK’s post-Brexit fish talks are unlikely to go swimmingly
The British economy could soon be sleeping with the fishes. As the stress points of post-Brexit negotiations take shape, there are fears that the government’s pledge to protect the nation’s minnow of a fishing industry could torpedo a trade deal.
For a start, almost nothing is being done to halt free movement of fish. European shoals are entering British waters without any documentation or anything close to a Tier 1 visa. Many claim to be fleeing persecution and seek asylum on environmental grounds under the rules governing exceptional leave to sustain
Obviously, those fish seeking full settled status will at some point have to take a citizenship test tailored to their circumstances. Entrants would be expected to know the dates of Captain Cook’s voyages, the British name for the god of the ocean (Captain Birdseye) and who owns Gibraltar (correct answer: we do).
British fish, meanwhile, will be eligible for a blue passport and able to use the new 50p coin with the marvellous inscription “Peace, prosperity and chips with all nations”. It sounds terribly inspiring but if the negotiations get tough, the scales may yet fall from our eyes.
https://www.ft.com/content/
Financial Times 14 Feb
