Commentary
Introduction The UK Government hopes that the General Election to be held on December 12, 2019 will solve the parliamentary impasse over Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s draft EU withdrawal deal, either by finally securing parliamentary ratification for it or by forcing a No Deal outcome. Opposition parties meanwhile are working together to block Brexit entirely, […]
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The UK parliament has voted to convene elections for 12 December 2019. Whether this will clarify the timing and means by which the UK would leave the EU remains to be seen. What is clear is that trade policy will be, explicitly or implicitly, one of the key electoral issues, for the first time in […]
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The European Commission (EC) and the UK Government reached an agreement, on 17 October 2019, on modifications to the Withdrawal Agreement and accompanying Political Declaration they had first concluded in November 2018, but which failed to pass UK parliament. The modifications are less revisions than they are a form of recalibration on the way various […]
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A central plank of the UK Government’s Brexit policy is to re-establish an “independent” UK international trade policy following more than forty years of integration into the Common Commercial Policy (CCP) of the European Union. This would have been hard enough technically, even without the ill-tempered stand-off into which the Brexit negotiations have now declined. […]
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Once the preserve of trade policy wonks, GATT Article XXIV has entered mainstream political discourse in the UK. Ever since the Withdrawal Agreement negotiated between the UK and EU was first voted down in parliament, various political figures (Dominic Raab being the latest) have referred to this Article as paving the way for a “managed […]
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Immigration was one of the key issues of contention in the referendum of 23 June 2016. The desire to limit immigration for the European Union was cited as one of the main factors, if not the main one, motivating the leave vote that prevailed on the day. Since then, the Government has listed the control […]
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Services are a vital part of the UK’s economy. They account for close to 80% of its GDP. Services exports are around 45% of total UK exports by value, and will in all likelihood overtake goods in the near future. Over the last 10 years, services exports to the EU have grown at an annual […]
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The UK and the EU-27 have agreed on an extension to Brexit, with the new deadline for the UK’s withdrawal moved back to 31 October 2019. The UK may leave the EU earlier if parliament passes the Withdrawal Agreement agreed by the Government and the EU. The Government and the Opposition have engaged in talks […]
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On 27 March, the House of Commons voted on eight approaches to “Brexit”, as alternatives to the Withdrawal Agreement negotiated between the UK and the EU in 2018. Votes on these plans were indicative i.e. they were not binding on the government. In the event, all motions were rejected, including motions in favour of a […]
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With the UK parliament showing little sign of resolving its differences of opinion with itself on the UK’s departure from the EU, the UK government has published a list of customs duties that would apply “temporarily” in the event of a “no-deal“ exit. The government says that under such arrangements 87% of imports to the […]
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