Commentary
Introduction The UK Government’s long-awaited White Paper setting out a negotiating position on post-Brexit trade and other relations with the European Union was published on July 12 2018. Previous Government statements on these issues mostly expressed generalised aspirations for the UK’s future relations with the Union and with other trade partners world-wide. The White Paper […]
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We present the main points discussed by Professor L Alan Winters, Lord O’Donnell and Amar Breckenridge at a Trade Knowledge Exchange Webinar on 20 July. A full recording of the session can be accessed here. 1. A grand political bargain The White Paper is a negotiating text in two ways. Firstly, it sets out the […]
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One of the objectives the UK has set for itself on leaving the European Union is to conclude Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with its major trade partners. The White Paper on future arrangements between the UK and the European Union (EU) proposes a free trade agreement (FTA) between both parties. It also sets specifically mentions […]
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Throughout the Brexit process an eventual “No deal” situation has been held out to the public of the United Kingdom variously as a horror scenario or as a launch-pad for future national development. The prospects of a “No deal” outcome, and the conflicting views as to what it means, have been expressed with considerable force […]
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The White Paper released by the UK Government on 12 July 2018 deals primarily with the UK’s relationship to the EU. In keeping with previous statements and papers, it seeks a deep and comprehensive free trade agreement with the EU. But it also sets out the UK’s ambition to develop its own independent trade policy […]
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Twenty-eight years after they last managed it, England have made the semi-final of football’s World Cup. England’s match against the then West Germany in Turin in July 1990, came in the middle of a tumultuous time for Europe. The Berlin wall had recently come down, and German reunification was on the horizon. This time round, […]
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What role can the UK carve out for itself in global trade policy after leaving the EU? It will be able to speak with an “independent” and “distinctive” voice, will relentlessly push the case for free trade and multilateralism, and will strive to ensure that everyone is able to access the benefits of trade. That, […]
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There are four months to go until the European Union’s October 2018 deadline for finalisation of a Brexit withdrawal agreement which can be put to the member states for ratification, and nine months until March 29 2019 when the UK, according to its withdrawal notification, will cease to be a member state. Meanwhile the complexity […]
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Emmanuel Macron has an appetite for big challenges. Not content with trying to rescue the Paris Agreement, the Iran nuclear deal, and stare down waves of strikes at home, he now wants to completely overhaul the WTO. His call came at an OECD forum, at the end of which the United States pointedly refused to […]
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Customs arrangements and post-Brexit trade policy: What are the options? Theresa May’s cabinet has met this week in another of its recurring “crunch meetings” on its future position vis a vis the EU. The main bone of contention is the question of customs arrangements. Theresa May has already ruled out continuing membership of the EU’s […]
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