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EU signals Northern Ireland could join if united with Ireland
BRUSSELS, 28. Apr, 17:59

EU leaders are to confirm at a summit in Brussels on Saturday (28 April) that if Northern Ireland reunited with Ireland it would automatically become part of the bloc.

The issue could irritate London ahead of 8 June's general election and the soon-to-begin Brexit talks.

The Irish commitment, which had always been an informal understanding, will not be part of the EU 27’s negotiating guidelines, but it will be annexed to the document as part of the minutes of the discussion upon Ireland's request.

The British government has a similar understanding.

Brexit secretary David Davis in a leaked letter in March said: "In that event [Irish reunification] Northern Ireland would be in a position of becoming part of an existing EU member state, rather than seeking to join the EU as a new independent state."

On the other hand, if Scotland broke away from the UK to become a sovereign state it would have to apply for EU membership.

The Scottish government said it wants to hold a new independence referendum because Scots voted to stay in the EU in the Brexit referendum last year.

The Irish pledge is the only new element that has emerged in the EU's position as it prepares for its first ever formal summit without the UK under the Article 50 exit procedure.

Key elements
Leaders are expected to agree on the so-called negotiating guidelines that sets out the red lines for the bloc.

Upholding the 1998 Good Friday Agreement that, which brought an end to decades of violence over Northern Ireland's status, is one of the key issues.

The EU wants to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and Ireland, while maintaining the external borders of the EU, which will shift after Brexit.

Safeguarding the rights of EU citizens living in the UK, and of UK citizens residing in the EU is another key element for the EU in the Brexit talks.

We need "guarantees that are effective, enforceable, non-discriminatory and comprehensive, and which should be accompanied by simple and smooth administrative procedures", European Council chef Donald Tusk said in his invitation letter to leaders.

EU officials are looking for UK guarantees that the rights of EU citizens who live in Britain will accumulate until the day of withdrawal, meaning that if someone moved to the UK the day before the UK left the EU they would still be entitled to their full rights as an EU passport holder.

"Assurances so far from UK government that acquired rights will be protected is not enough," one senior diplomat told EUobserver.

The third key element is the "bill" the UK will have to pay when it leaves to honour its previous financial commitments.

Another senior EU official quipped that he had never seen EU states, who normally fight over who foots the bill in the EU budget, work so closely together as on British prime minister Theresa May's divorce settlement.

The final figure of that bill is unlikely to be clarified until the end of the process.

EU countries first want to reach on understanding with the UK on the methodology of what should and should not be included in the settlement, before moving onto the next phase of talks.

Phased goodbye
Tusk has reiterated that, contrary to May's expectations, the talks will have to be two-phased.

"We will not discuss our future relations with the UK until we have achieved sufficient progress on the main issues relating to the UK's withdrawal from the EU," he wrote in his letter on Friday.

The EU-27 will decide when that "sufficient progress" has been reached, in a unanimous political decision by the EU nations.

"It is not a matter of tactics, given the limited timeframe, it is the only possible approach," an EU official told this website.

The divorce deal will have to be agreed and ratified by March 2019.

That is when the UK automatically leaves the EU even if there is no deal in place, unless the EU-27 agree to give more time.

A transitional arrangement is another possibility to bridge the time between the withdrawal and the deal on the future relations entering into force.

Relocate agencies
On Saturday, Tusk and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker will also propose a roadmap on relocating the two EU agencies that are based in the UK - the European Medicines Agency and the European Banking Authority.

EU leaders are expected to agree on the procedure and criteria for relocations in June, and EU officials are aiming for a decision this year.

Fighting for EU agencies is a toxic issue for member states.

May on Thursday accused the 27 of "lining up against Britain", to which a senior EU diplomat bluntly reacted: "She is right."

Officials highlighted rare unity of the 27 member states in the process so far.

"It took the UK nine months to prepare the notification letter, the 27 have their position in one month," a senior EU official said.

Sources said that that unity would be tested, however.

"Over time it will be difficult. It will be relatively easier to keep the unity in the withdrawal part of the discussion and more challenging in the future relationship talk," said one EU official.

Saturday's meeting is expected to be short and devoted only to Brexit.

The negotiating directives for EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier will be officially agreed by EU affairs ministers on 22 May, making the EU ready to kick off the exit talks.

Officials said it was likely that the 27 leaders would have to meet on Brexit during the upcoming June, October, and December EU summits as well.
Source: https://euobserver.com/uk-referendum/137722

I'm afraid lackeys of the so called "Queen of England" aka "unionists" in northern part of Ireland curently occupied by England will try to disrupt unification of Ireland.

Let Ireland be Ireland.
what a load of horse shit, article 50 has been triggered and there coming for the ride. they scots tried something similar but failed.
 
what a load of horse shit, article 50 has been triggered and there coming for the ride.

You have to pay €100bn:
Report: EU raises initial Brexit demand to €100bn
3. May, 08:22
Following the requests of several member states, the EU has raised its opening demand for Britain’s Brexit bill to an upfront gross payment of up to €100bn, according to the Financial Times. France and Poland have pushed to include post-Brexit annual farm payments in the sum of money. However, the calculations vary widely depending on the UK's possible exit date, its share of contributions, its EU budget rebate, and liabilities.
Source: https://euobserver.com/tickers/137749https://euobserver.com/tickers/137749

they scots tried something similar but failed.

You stolen Scotland's independence. You rigged Scottish Independence Referendum (source)
Let Scotland be Scotland.
 
Merkel warns UK cap on EU immigration post-Brexit would have 'its price'
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has warned of consequences in case Britain restricted EU immigration. Her comment came as Nigel Farage delivered his own warning to the EU Parliament.




The German chancellor delivered a vague but pointed warning to British leaders on Wednesday amid questions over how the UK's divorce from the EU will impact the free movement of people across Europe.

Speaking at an event for labor union officials in Berlin, Merkel said that "if the British government says that free movement of people is no longer valid, that will have its price in relations with Britain."

Merkel said that if Britain were to limit the number of EU citizens allowed into the country to only 100,000 or 200,000, for example, "we would have to think about what obstacle we create from the European side to compensate that." She was quick to say, however, that such a plan wasn't meant to be "malicious."

Freedom of movement between the UK and the EU remains a central issue in negotiations over Brexit, whose supporters often pointed to migration as one of the most compelling reasons to leave the 28-member bloc.


Farage tells EU to 'grow up'

Also on Wednesday, MEP Nigel Farage of UKIP, the right-wing populist and euroskeptic party that led the drive to leave the EU, warned his colleagues in the EU Parliament that the UK would walk away from the table if Brussels continued its "bullying" behavior.

"In any other part of the civilized world frankly that behavior would be considered to be bloody rude and the act of a bully," Farage said. "Well I'll tell you something, your attempt to bully the Brits through these negotiations is not working, sixty-eight percent now of the British people want Brexit to happen."

Farage was responding to alleged leaks following a meeting between May and EU Commision President Jean-Claude Juncker.

"Either we get some grown up, reasonable demands from the European Union or the United Kingdom will be forced to walk away before the end of this year," he said.

blc/rc (AP, Reuters, dpa)
 
Jean-Claude Juncker: ‘English is losing importance’
The European Commission president opted to deliver a speech in Florence in French.

By Ryan Heath

5/5/17, 11:52 AM CET

Updated 5/8/17, 2:51 PM CET

FLORENCE — Jean-Claude Juncker, the European Commission president, opted to deliver a speech in French on Friday morning because he said “English is losing importance” in Europe.

He gave the comments, which are unlikely to mend fences after a war of words between Brussels and London over Brexit negotiations, at the “State of the Union” conference in Florence’s Palazzo Vecchio — an annual event for European dignitaries.


Juncker said he was opting for French because “slowly but surely English is losing importance in Europe and France has elections this Sunday and I want the French people to understand what I am saying about the importance of the EU.”

The Commission president tackled the row that erupted over a private meeting he had with U.K. Prime Minister Theresa May last week. Following the meeting Juncker reportedly said: “I leave Downing Street 10 times more skeptical than I was before.” May gave a speech on the steps of Downing Street on Thursday in which she said some in Europe were trying influence the British election.

In Florence, Juncker said, “[Brexit] is no small event. Of course we will negotiate with our British friends in full transparency. But there should be no doubt whatsoever about the idea that it is the EU that is abandoning the U.K. It is the opposite in fact. It is the U.K. that is abandoning the EU.”

European Parliament President Antonio Tajani offered his full support to EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier and attempted to tone down the verbal joust with London.

“There is no ill will toward them. No one wants to interfere in the election of the U.K,” he said. Tajani said the EU simply wants a stable government it can negotiate with. “It would be detrimental to everyone were we not capable of reaching an agreement,” Tajani said.

The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said he would deliver his speech in English. “Obviously I want to be understood by the French, but it is equally important than I am understood by the British people,” he said.

Source: http://www.politico.eu/article/jean-claude-juncker-english-is-losing-importance/
 
Brexit: Remain would win if new EU referendum vote were held tomorrow, poll finds


Survation survey shows 54 per cent of Britons would now prefer to stay in Europe

Monday 3 July 2017
Staff and agencies

david-davis-marr.jpg

Bad news for Brexit Secretary David Davis Reuters
The outcome of the Brexit referendum would be reversed if it was held tomorrow, a poll suggests.

The Survation survey showed a clear majority of Britons (54 per cent) would vote to Remain in the European Union if another referendum was held, while 46 per cent would back Brexit.

As Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom signalled a more consultative approach, the Survation survey also showed just over half want a cross-party coalition of parties to negotiate the UK's exit from the EU, compared to less than a third who think it should fall to the Tory minority Government alone.


Theresa May found herself ahead of Jeremy Corbyn on which leader voters trust more to negotiate the best deal, at 51 per cent to 35 per cent respectively.

However, a majority said the best outcome would be to stop exit talks altogether and work to stay in the EU, while around a third backed paying a fee for access to the tariff-free customs union.

Less than a quarter support the Government's current strategy of leaving the customs union in order to strike free trade deals with other countries, as Labour signalled its strongest backing for staying in the bloc yet.

However more Britons (47 per cent) oppose a referendum on the final deal than support it (46 per cent).

Meanwhile, the poll showed the Tories regaining a one-point lead over Labour.

But a separate Opinium survey for the Observer showed Labour on 45 per cent, six points ahead of the Tories on 39 per cent.

That poll also showed Mrs May with a net approval rating of -20 following her disastrous general election, with Mr Corbyn on +4.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...new-eu-exit-vote-survation-poll-a7820286.html
 
President Macron and other member states fear Britain could gain advantage over them by undercutting EU environment laws
Daniel Boffey in Brussels

Sat 17 Nov 2018 19.28 GMT


4928.jpg

Emmanuel Macron’s climate change demand is just one of a series by member states on the Brexit negotiations. Photograph: Sébastien Bozon/AFP/Getty Images

France is pushing the UK to incorporate future European climate change directives into law automatically in return for an ambitious trade deal with the EU.

A large number of member states fear that the UK could enjoy an economic advantage after Brexit if it were able to diverge from European laws and regulations, and they want to use their leverage now to force a commitment from future British governments.

The demand by Emmanuel Macron for the UK to be tied into the EU’s Paris 2030 targets was just one of a series of interventions made by member states during recent meetings with Michel Barnier and his negotiating team.

While a UK withdrawal agreement dealing with citizens’ rights, the £39bn financial settlement and the Irish border have been agreed in principle, the political declaration on the future relationship is yet to be finalised. A seven-page declaration published last week is set to become a much heavier document after member states made a series of interventions in meetings with the European commission for additional text. One EU diplomat said: “It’s a Christmas tree and all the member states are putting their baubles on it.”

Olly Robbins, Downing Street’s Brexit adviser, was in Brussels this weekend for meetings with the commission. On Sunday, ambassadors for the 27 member states are to meet Barnier to discuss the text. Negotiations will have to be completed when ministers for the 27 meet on Monday, with a draft due to be made public on Tuesday.

Downing Street is hopeful that the political declaration can be a “sweetener” to the withdrawal agreement, which has faced a storm of protest in Britain.

On Saturday, Commons leader Andrea Leadsom insisted there was “more to be done” before a special European council meeting on Sunday 25 November to get “the best possible deal for the UK”.

But the extra demands on the UK are likely to be unwelcome to Brexiters, who fear that the government is allowing the UK to be permanently sucked into the EU’s regulatory orbit.

While the UK is a leading light among the EU member states on climate change, the French government is concerned that in a post-Brexit world there will be calls within Britain to undercut the rest of the continent.

The EU has been steadily ratcheting up its targets as part of the 2015 Paris climate change accord, and France wants the UK to be bound to them.

Last week the European parliament adopted energy-savings targets of 32.5% and a renewable energy uplift of 32% by 2030. That will put the bloc on course to cut emissions by 45% from 1990 levels by 2030.

The most politically sensitive demand from the EU is likely, however, to concern the trade-off the bloc wants to make between access for the European fishing fleet to British waters and the wider trade deal.

It is understood that a clause will be included in the political declaration making a link between British companies having access to the European market, and maintaining the “existing reciprocal access to fishing waters and resources”.

The EU wants a deal on access to UK waters by July 2020, with the UK being tied to making its “best endeavour” to get an agreement, or British exporters will face a loss of access to its market for their own goods.

A number of member states are also championing more positive language in the political declaration on the future trading relationship.

One diplomat from a European country on the western fringe of the EU said: “The relationship as sketched out in the political declaration doesn’t do enough for us. It doesn’t protect the supply lines and we should aim higher, and lock ourselves in to achieve more.”

Andrew Duff, a former MEP, and visiting fellow at the European Policy Centre thinktank, said: “The political declaration needs to do two things – corral the 27 behind a settled course of action leading to an unprecedented association agreement with the UK, and secondly to commit the British prime minister – and if possible her successor – in that same direction.

“It can’t be too loose, therefore, but also can’t be so tightly drafted that it pre-empts the association agreement negotiations. It’s the first chance for the EU 27 to plot the future of Europe without the Brits – an important moment, therefore.”

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/17/france-wants-uk-climate-pledge-brexit-trade-deal
 
We need a new prime minister who will tell the EU where to get off, and who will fight for the UK.

The current one, only seems to be interested in taking "instructions" from the EU..
 
Since the UK Government has been found 'In contempt of Parliament' ( https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...-advice-government-geoffrey-cox-a8667086.html ), the first time in entire history of the UK, this has happened...

Teresa May walks out of Parliament, In Face of No Confidence Vote.


There will be a total brexit mission failure
https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/to...s-and-farm-animals-voted-for-brexit-1-5620470

Brexit: Remain would win if new EU referendum vote were held tomorrow, poll finds


Survation survey shows 54 per cent of Britons would now prefer to stay in Europe

Monday 3 July 2017
Staff and agencies

david-davis-marr.jpg

Bad news for Brexit Secretary David Davis Reuters
The outcome of the Brexit referendum would be reversed if it was held tomorrow, a poll suggests.

The Survation survey showed a clear majority of Britons (54 per cent) would vote to Remain in the European Union if another referendum was held, while 46 per cent would back Brexit.

As Commons Leader Andrea Leadsom signalled a more consultative approach, the Survation survey also showed just over half want a cross-party coalition of parties to negotiate the UK's exit from the EU, compared to less than a third who think it should fall to the Tory minority Government alone.


Theresa May found herself ahead of Jeremy Corbyn on which leader voters trust more to negotiate the best deal, at 51 per cent to 35 per cent respectively.

However, a majority said the best outcome would be to stop exit talks altogether and work to stay in the EU, while around a third backed paying a fee for access to the tariff-free customs union.

Less than a quarter support the Government's current strategy of leaving the customs union in order to strike free trade deals with other countries, as Labour signalled its strongest backing for staying in the bloc yet.

However more Britons (47 per cent) oppose a referendum on the final deal than support it (46 per cent).

Meanwhile, the poll showed the Tories regaining a one-point lead over Labour.

But a separate Opinium survey for the Observer showed Labour on 45 per cent, six points ahead of the Tories on 39 per cent.

That poll also showed Mrs May with a net approval rating of -20 following her disastrous general election, with Mr Corbyn on +4.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...new-eu-exit-vote-survation-poll-a7820286.html

Will never happen, they tease the idea but they cant do it.

https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/9...an-Second-Referendum-aliens-Michael-Heseltine
 
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