Archive for the ‘European Union’ Category

Brexit blow: How Margaret Thatcher unintentionally tied Britain to EU – Express

Despite having campaigned to stay in the European Economic Community (EEC) the precursor to the EU former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher is now often portrayed as a spiritual mother of euroscepticism. She passionately fought and won a number of battles against what she saw as the excessive powers of Brussels. In 1984, she negotiated a British rebate on contributions to the EEC in what has long been considered one of the Iron Ladys finest victories.

Despite her anti-EU stance, according to Lord David Owen, it was one of Baroness Thatchers key decisions that ultimately tied Britain to the EU.

In an interview with Express.co.uk, the former Foreign Secretary and SDP leader argued that the former Prime Minister should have listened to her then-Chancellor Nigel Lawson before signing the Single European Act.

He explained: "Nigel Lawson is a significant figure.

"He wrote to Margaret Thatcher twice in 1986 warning her not to allow the use of the term 'monetary', which was very significant in the Single European Act.

"He deserves great praise for this.

"Thatcher should have said no, and she realised this later.

"We should have said no to the monetary system, because if we had, then we could have easily vetoed Maastricht."

The Brexiteer noted: "But having gone on and on with that language, it was much harder to block Maastricht.

"Particularly when Kohl was so accommodating giving us the opt outs."

The Single European Act (SEA) was the first major revision of the 1957 Treaty of Rome.

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The Act set the European Community the objective of establishing a single market by December 31, 1992.

It was signed in Luxembourg on February 17, 1986, and at The Hague on February 28, 1986.

The Act set the precedent that, in order to achieve such a market, a genuine Economic and Monetary Union had to be established a goal which was set out in its preamble.

It conferred on the Community a monetary capacity, which is to say the possibility of adapting the Community institutions to the subsequent development of an economic and monetary policy.

The future economic monetary union was, therefore, to be established within the Community framework.

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Despite Baroness Thatcher's mistake, she spent the following years fighting against the Maastricht Treaty the international agreement that saw what was then the European Community evolve into the European Union with initially only 12 member states.

While the Iron Lady's successor Sir John Major was in favour of signing Maastricht, she believed the Treaty would have "diminished democracy and increased bureaucracy in Britain.

Referring to the signing of the Single European Act, the Tory grandee said in 1993: Our trust was not well-founded.

We got our fingers burnt.

"The most silly thing to do when you get your fingers burnt is to bring forward a bigger and worse Act which is the equivalent of putting your head in the fire.

Speaking months later in the House of Lords, Baroness Thatcher also claimed: I could never have signed this treaty.

Despite opposition from the Conservatives, Sir John signed the Treaty on February 7, 1992.

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Brexit blow: How Margaret Thatcher unintentionally tied Britain to EU - Express

Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia extends travel ban to EU, 12 nations including India – Deccan Herald

Saudi Arabia has extended its travel ban to include the European Union and 12 other countries, including India, as the number of coronavirus cases in the Kingdom jumped to 62, according to media reports on Friday.

Saudi health officials on Friday announced 17 new coronavirus cases, raising the number of cases in the country to 62, according to the official Saudi news agency.

There are 11 foreign nationals among the people who contracted the virus, Saudi Press Agency quoted the Saudi Health Ministry as saying.

One person was discharged from hospital after recovering from the virus, the statement said.

Saudi Arabia early Thursday suspended flights to all EU countries as well as Switzerland, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Sudan, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Eritrea, Kenya, Djibouti, and Somalia.

Saudi Arabias government decided to temporarily suspend the travel of citizens and residents, and to suspend flights to the European Union countries, as well as Switzerland, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Sudan, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Eritrea, Kenya, Djibouti, and Somalia, Saudi Gazette quoted a source at the Ministry of Interior as saying.

The government will also be suspending the entry to those coming from the aforementioned countries and entry to those who were in those countries within a time period of 14 days prior to their arrival to the Kingdom, it said.

The governments decision grants Saudi nationals and citizens of those countries with valid Saudi residency visas 72 hours to return to the Kingdom before the travel suspension comes into effect.

The travel ban excludes Indian and Filipino medical practitioners working in the Kingdom, taking into account the necessary and required precautions, the report said.

The ministries of interior and health would coordinate while dealing with humanitarian and exceptional cases, without prejudice to the necessary precautionary and preventive measures.

The decision expanded the number of countries included in the travel ban list to 53.

After emerging in Wuhan, China last December, the novel coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, has spread to at least 114 countries.

Saudi Arabia on March 9 suspended travel to Oman, France, Germany, Turkey, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Egypt, Italy, and South Korea.

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Coronavirus: Saudi Arabia extends travel ban to EU, 12 nations including India - Deccan Herald

Britain and the E.U. Enter Trade Talks, Acrimoniously – The New York Times

Part of the problem is sheer complexity. There will be 10 parallel tracks of negotiations involving a team of 100 on the British side alone. The first round will run from Monday to Thursday of next week in Brussels, with the teams reconvening in London on March 18. At that rate, there will be time for only half a dozen rounds before Britain takes stock of the progress.

Moreover, some of the early sticking points like the European Unions access to British fishing grounds are going to be the most contentious. There is also growing tension over whether Mr. Johnson is quietly reneging on the status of Northern Ireland in the withdrawal agreement.

British officials say there will be no need for checks of goods flowing from Britain to Northern Ireland since Northern Ireland remains part of the British customs territory. But under the terms of the agreement with Brussels, the North will also adhere to European Union regulations. This hybrid status, experts say, makes it impossible for there to be no border checks.

Adding to the fears of a bitter negotiation, Mr. Johnson reshuffled his cabinet to stack it with hard-line Brexiteers. He replaced the Northern Ireland secretary, Julian Smith, who almost quit last year when Mr. Johnson threatened a no-deal Brexit, with Brandon Lewis, who is viewed as more compliant.

Sajid Javid, the chancellor of the Exchequer who voted to stay in the European Union in 2016, was forced out in a power struggle with 10 Downing Street. Analysts say that his successor, Rishi Sunak, is likely to put up less resistance to a confrontation with Brussels.

Some analysts chalk up the fighting words to an opening gambit. Britain and the European Union, they say, both have a strong incentive to come to terms. During the withdrawal talks with Brussels, Mr. Johnson showed an ability to pivot seamlessly from confrontation to compromise.

Yet other experts note that Mr. Johnsons ultimate motives remain something of a mystery. He has yet to speak in detail about what kind of Brexit he wants. Some note that the disruption of failing to make a deal, while indisputably bad, would not be magnitudes worse than the bare-bones deal that Mr. Johnson says, for now, that he is seeking.

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Britain and the E.U. Enter Trade Talks, Acrimoniously - The New York Times

The European Unions trade policy will involve some tough negotiations – The Economist

Feb 27th 2020

WASHINGTON, DC

IF THE TRUMP administrations America is the bully of the global trading system, the European Union is the finger-wagging school prefect. Instead of threatening tariffs, its leaders have called for countries to play fairly. As a trade war has raged between America and China, the EU suggested a rules-based solution. When the Trump administration wrecked the system of solving disputes at the World Trade Organisation (WTO), the EU led the search for a fix. As the worlds biggest exporter of services and second only to China for goods, it has a sizeable stake in preserving order.

Enter Phil Hogan, the EUs burly trade commissioner since December 2019. The EU is still a stickler for rules and the multilateralism that Mr Hogan says is in our DNA. But he wants to wield a bigger stick. We have to stand up for our rights more assertively and aggressively, in my view, he tells The Economist. By this he means defending the EU against unfair trading practices. The challenges range from concerns about Chinas state-led system of capitalism to fears that the EUs trading partners are not living up to their commitments.

Part of his brief involves continuing efforts to rescue the system by which the WTO solves disputes. Meanwhile he will have to manage the tense transatlantic relationship. If the job was not daunting enough, he will help negotiate what he hopes will be an amicable trade deal with Britain.

Mr Hogans reputation as a canny politician willing to make tough decisionshis nickname in Irish politics was the enforcer suggests that he may be right for the job. On behalf of his home county of Kilkenny, where he entered Irish politics at the age of 22, he haggled effectively (for example, ensuring that the regions salt depot was in Kilkenny, partly so that in case of ice the local roads would be salted first). He is no flat tyre, as one Leinster admirer puts it. Later he drew controversy when in 2011, as Irelands Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government, he was put in charge of introducing unpopular water charges. It damaged his reputation. But as a consolation prize, the Irish government backed him as the EUs agriculture commissioner.

His experience over the following five years meant that he became intimately acquainted with the EUs most sensitive spots. Alongside Cecilia Malmstrm, then the EUs trade commissioner, he boasts of concluding no fewer than 15 trade agreements. According to some of the negotiators who were on the opposite side of the table, while he could be both charming and funny, his strategies to avoid giving concessions could be deeply frustrating. In some cases, he simply declined to show up.

The American government may roll its eyes at the talk of a tougher EU trade regime. Some in America could accuse the bloc of being too timid about using tariffs to get its own way with trading partners, and too weak to overcome the protectionist instincts of its member states. They ask why, if the EU is so concerned about the demise of the WTOS dispute-settlement system, it ignored Americas complaints about it for so long? Where, they ask, was the EU while America was filing WTO disputes against China? Tough talk is cheap, results will require action.

Mr Hogans first priority is to add muscle to the EUs defences. From May 1st he will oversee a new chief trade-enforcement officer, as well as new enforcement unit dedicated to making sure that existing trade deals are implemented properly. The European Commission is proposing new rules that would sharpen the EUs teeth, including an amendment to enforcement regulations that would allow tariffs against other governments blocking the WTOs dispute-settlement system. On the topic of the WTOs appellate body, Mr Hogan acknowledges some of the American concerns, but adds that he would love to see detailed proposals for solutions to the problems from the Trump administration.

Whether he can maintain stable trade relations with America is another matter. He raised hackles in September after an interview in which he promised to teach Mr Trump the error of his ways. Then in a meeting in January he seems to have clashed with Robert Lighthizer, the United States Trade Representative. If he tries to bring more assertiveness into the EUs side of the transatlantic relationship it could end badly. Stephen Vaughn, an ex-colleague of Mr Lighthizer, warns that attempts to play hardball could backfire.

The Americans want, above all, broad access to the EUs agricultural marketmore than the lobsters, scallops and nuts that are on offer. (Seafood technically counts as an industrial product.) But as Mr Hogan knows well from his previous job, anything much broader than dismantling a few non-tariff agricultural barriers is unpalatable to member states.

He remains upbeat about the transatlantic relationship. I think that were in a better place now than we were some months ago, he says. On February 14th a tariff announcement related to a dispute over aircraft subsidies was milder than expected. A reduction in car tariffs could be on the table, he adds, if member states agree. His challenge is not just to get trade partners to play by the rules. It is to get his own side on board, too.

This article appeared in the Finance and economics section of the print edition under the headline "Hulk Hogan"

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The European Unions trade policy will involve some tough negotiations - The Economist

Op-Ed: Coronavirus could be a bigger test for the EU than the refugee crisis – CNBC

Tourist wearing a protective respiratory mask tours outside the Colosseo monument (Colisee, Coliseum) in downtown Rome on February 28, 2020 amid fear of Covid-19 epidemic.

Andreas Solaro | AFP | Getty Images

The coronavirus pounded the European Union this week with the biggest test of its political, economic and social fabric since the refugee crisis of five years ago.

The ripples from the European migrant crisis of 2015 continue until today with its dual shock to the EU's unity and domestic politics. It triggered a wave of populism and nationalism, the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the EU, and Germany's political fragmentation behind the weakening of Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Most dramatically, the Turkish government this week backed off from its commitment made in 2016, in return for 6 billion euros in EU funds, to prevent Syrian refugees from entering Europe. That followed a Thursday airstrike by Russian-backed Syrian forces in Syria's Idlib province, killing at least 33 Turkish troops.

Even as Turkey ordered police, coast guard and border security officials to allow would-be refugees to pass into the EU, Bulgaria responded by sending an extra 1,000 troops to the frontier with Turkey and Greek police launched smoke grenades at one crossing to dissuade migrants.

Containing pathogens is a much different business than managing waves of refugees. However, what unites the two issues is how dramatically the European Union's response will shape public attitudes about the institution's relevance, responsiveness, and effectiveness at a crucial historic moment.

The impact of coronavirus on Europe's future has the potential to be even more significant than the migrant crisis, particularly as it unfolds in almost biblical fashion atop a plague of other European maladies.

They include, but by no means are limited to: economic slowdown and possible recession (made more likely by coronavirus), the rise of populism and nationalism (stoked as well by the virus), disagreements about how to handle trade talks with a departing United Kingdom (which start Monday), internecine fights over the European budget, and ongoing German leadership crisis and French social upheaval.

The coronavirus morphed this past week into an increasingly global phenomenon that experts agree can no longer be contained. The hit to stock markets was $6 trillion, the biggest weekly fall since the 2008 financial crisis. By Friday, the WHO reported more than 78,000 cases and more than 2,790 deaths ion China and 70 deaths in 52 other countries.

In Europe, what began as northern Italian phenomenon where there have been more than 800 infections has now reached Spain, Greece, Croatia, France, the UK, Switzerland, Romania, the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, North Macedonia, and San Marino.

Italians have cancelled their carnival celebration in Venice and Milan Fashion Week. European hotels in Austria, France, and the Spanish Canary Islands have been locked down in quarantine.

On 28, February 2020, migrants and refugees from Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan boarded buses bound for the Greek border in a parking lot in the Zeytinburnu suburb of Istanbul, Turkey.

Diego Cupolo | NurPhoto | Getty Images

Though individual EU member states set their own health policies, the EU is responsible for coordinating response to the disease and providing advice regarding its still-open borders.

In most countries, citizens turn to national leaders for response in such situations. In a borderless European Union, which prides itself on free movement of people and travel, crisis response becomes a test of the institution itself and the philosophies behind this unique grouping of 27 member states with about 445 million citizens and $16 trillion GDP.

Thus, much attention this week was paid to whether and how individual EU countries or the EU itself might abandon the 1985 Schengen Agreement that brought 26 of its nations into a passport-free zone of travel.

This has been one of the greatest sources of EU pride and identity. At the same time, the agreement is designed to be far more flexible at moments of crisis than is generally known. The rules allow for the temporary reintroduction of border controls for reasons that include migrant surges, terror attacks and crucial now health emergencies.

"Paradoxically," argues Benjamin Haddad, director of the Atlantic Council's Future Europe Initiative, "one might argue that moments like these are made for the European Union."

That's because, Haddad explains, such moments require the level of technical cooperation and shared decision-making among countries that is the very basis of the European Union. The EU acts as a regulatory superpower through the "normative" power of its trade deals and other instruments that impose standards, which often become global, in areas including digital, health, environmental, and all manner of industrial sectors.

Yet, if imposing regulatory norms is an EU strength, rapid response at times of crisis remains a weakness.

When it comes to scenarios such as the refugee crisis or coronavirus outbreak, member states often take back control, as they did in 2015.The coronavirus will give new ammunition to those who want national border controls tightened or restored.

Marine Le Pen, the right-wing French nationalist, has called for border closures with Italy. In Switzerland, not an EU member but part of the border-free zone, right-wing political leader Lorenzo Quadri said it was "alarming" that the open borders' "dogma" would be considered a priority at such a time.

Health officials in Trieste airport measure the body temperature of incoming passengers. Trieste, 28th of February 2020.

Jacopo Landi | NurPhoto | Getty Images

As the number of coronavirus cases grows in Europe, it seems unlikely that EU and national officials will be able to avoid the greater imposition of border controls. On Sunday evening, for example, Austria halted some train connections at the Brenner pass with Italy after officials reported that two passengers had been stopped who were infected with the virus.

If the EU and its member states respond smoothly and in a coordinated fashion, the coming days could reinforce the collective value of the European Union.

Should the EU appear ineffective as the virus spreads, that will color European attitudes for decades to come.

In his classic 1945 novel The Plague, the French writer Albert Camus writes, "I have no idea what's awaiting me, or what will happen when this all ends. For the moment I know this: there are sick people and they need curing."

"The virus, alas, has so far been tackled by a divided continent, just like the plague isolates people in Camus's plot," Gianni Riotta, a visiting professor at Princeton University, tells Judy Dempsey at Carnegie Europe. "Austria scrapped trains from Italy, Italy broke with the European Union, too hastily grounding flights from China, only to see the disease spread faster with passengers arriving unchecked from other airports."

It's not too early to ask whether Europe itself will fall victim to the virus or emerge healthier from the challenge.

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Op-Ed: Coronavirus could be a bigger test for the EU than the refugee crisis - CNBC