European Union

The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared coronavirus a global health emergency on Thursday as the virus continues to spread, with almost 10,000 confirmed cases worldwide and 213 deaths. Several European countries have also registered their first cases. Commentators assess the impact of virus - and fear thereof.

US President Trump presented a Middle East peace plan on Tuesday. The proposal calls for a two-state solution with parts of East Jerusalem as the Palestinian capital. At the same time, the legality of Jewish settlements in the West Bank would be accepted and Jerusalem would be recognised as the Israeli capital. Commentators ask whether there is any scenario in which the plan could be feasible.

The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU on 31 January 2020 will signal a series of changes in the way the Parliament is set up.

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

The withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU on 31 January 2020 will signal a series of changes in the way the Parliament is set up.

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

Committee and political group meetings, Brussels

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

"A new dawn for Europe" - Op-ed article by Presidents David Sassoli, Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

"A new dawn for Europe" - Op-ed article by Presidents David Sassoli, Charles Michel and Ursula von der Leyen

Source : © European Union, 2020 - EP

The Spanish government announced Thursday that a meeting between Spain's president, Pedro Sánchez, and Catalan leader Quim Torra, scheduled for next week, has been postponed following the announcement of a snap election in Catalonia. "The sooner the snap election is held and the new government is formed, the sooner we will begin dialogue," the government said in a statement. The Catalan Republican Left (ERC) described the delay as "absolute irresponsibility".

The former president of Ukraine sat down with EURACTIV warned that without the elusive ceasefire the loss of Ukrainian lives continues.

If Boris Johnson can negotiate agreements that are better than the EU system, it would be a serious challenge for the 27. 

Boris Johnson ‘got Brexit done’. The United Kingdom will, however, remain subject to EU rules until the end of the year (Photo: UK Parliament/Jessica Taylor)

He was believed to be an entertainer, he turned out to be a political strategist. Thanks to a crushing victory last December, where he managed to remove the Labour party from its working-class strongholds, Boris Johnson ‘got Brexit done’. The United Kingdom will, however, remain subject to EU rules until the end of the year. On 1st January 2021, its privileged access to the EU internal market will end in the absence of a new partnership agreement which is yet to be negotiated or an extension of the transition period (which Johnson does not even want to hear the word of).

For the past three years, the various options available to London have repeatedly been assessed, notably the so-called Canadian option (a free trade agreement for goods, a partial opening of service markets) and the Norwegian option (a full participation in the European market, in exchange for regulatory alignment and a contribution to the budget). But Sajid Javid, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has recently put it bluntly: the UK will have its own trade and regulatory policies. It will not be a follower.

A new conflict with the 27 is thus around the corner. On January 8, in London, Ursula von der Leyen warned that the condition for a free trade agreement without tariffs or quotas is broad regulatory alignment. The more the UK diverges from the EU, the more its market access will be restricted.

The British position is unsurprising: it would be paradoxical, after having decided to ‘take back control’, as the Brexiteers proclaimed, not to make use of this freedom. But Johnson faces a triple contradiction.

The more the UK diverges from the EU, the more its market access will be restricted.

The first is geopolitical. If London could have hoped to negotiate a host of free trade agreements in the pre-2016 multilateral world, it will be much more difficult in the new Trumpian transactional world. Today, the most important thing is strength. A market of 66 million inhabitants (against 450 for the 27 EU countries) does not translate to much muscle.

The second contradiction is economic. The British economy’s best asset is not the production of goods, for which the UK records a heavy deficit vis-à-vis the Union, but services, for which it posts a surplus. The exchange of services requires a harmonised regulatory framework. A combination of free trade in goods and segmentation of the service markets would cost to British consulting or financial engineering firms far more than to German machine tool builders.

The third contradiction is social. By raising the minimum wage 6% and by declaring a preference for skills, Johnson rejected deregulation of the labour market. To do otherwise would be to compromise his political victories. And it is hard to imagine the UK undercutting the EU’s environmental or health standards, for which the preferences of British consumers are very close to those of their continental neighbours.

London’s room for manoeuvre is narrow. Johnson can bet on regulatory competition in finance, artificial intelligence or biotech, and rely on subsidies to reach his industrial policy goals. But this will not be without cost. The greater the divergence with the 27, the longer and more difficult it will be to negotiate an agreement and the more restrictive the EU will be in terms of access to its market.

This does not necessarily put Johnson in a corner. The weakness of the EU lies in its cumbersome procedures and the inertia of its legislation, which results from multiple compromises between competing interests. Take the EU budget, it has priorities that have little to do with those of the EU, which gets perpetuated from one cycle to the next because everyone is fighting to preserve its cherished spending items. Or consider the inability of the European Commission to present a financing plan commensurate to its climate ambitions. Both examples illustrate a sad logic of entitlement.

So where can Johnson go now? Certainly not ‘Singapore on Thames’, the illusion of a free-market paradise for which there is no political basis. He can, however, build an agile regulatory system able to foster innovation and steer it more efficiently than his counterparts in Brussels. Johnson could create a system that, far from contradicting that of the EU, is actually ahead of it.

The bet is far from won. Both on the British and on the EU side, Brexit will end up as just another chapter in the story of Europe’s decline.

If he succeeds, it would present a serious challenge for the 27. But it will also ultimately be beneficial because what the EU needs is not a Britain that drifts away, or isolates itself and fails. The EU needs a partner whose competition wakes up the continent. It’s a challenge that forces the EU to tackle the problem of differentiated integration head-on, instead of cementing a sometimes artificial unity built around the defence of the status quo.

The bet is far from won. Both on the British and on the EU side, Brexit will end up as just another chapter in the story of Europe’s decline. But let’s not stop dreaming. Since the EU and the UK are now condemned to cohabit, let’s try to do it productively. An intelligent partner and competitor is the best thing that can happen to the continent.

This opinion piece was originally published in Le Monde.

The post Britain faces a triple contradiction appeared first on Ideas on Europe.

Slovenia v Croatia
Principles of Community law
The Court of Justice of the European Union lacks jurisdiction to rule on a border dispute between Slovenia and Croatia, but those two Member States are required, under Article 4(3) TEU, to strive sincerely to bring about a definitive legal solution to the dispute consistent with international law

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, met in Madrid on Thursday (30 January) to discuss the Iberian country’s main priorities after Brexit, among them taxation and Gibraltar-related issues.

The United Kingdom's departure from the European Union has been a highly divisive and emotional issue from the very start, and the rhetoric around it rarely failed to impress. EURACTIV has prepared a list of remarkable Brexit quotes from celebrities in showbiz and sports.

In today's edition of the Capitals, find out about the lifting of immunities of far-right AfD leader, government workers striking in Portugal, the Polish Sejm stripping the Senate of €23 million, and so much more.