BREXIT: UP-TO-DATE NEWS AS IT HAPPENS

EU Brexit talks to focus 1st on citizens' rights.

EU and British negotiators say the first day of negotiations on Britain's departure from the European Union was productive in outlining the program ahead and setting out the first challenges to settle, especially the rights of citizens living on each other's territory.

Both EU negotiator Michel Barnier and his UK counterpart David Davis said they were heartened by the first day of talks on Monday and insisted the tight deadlines were tough but achievable.

Barnier said there was agreement that the negotiators would first look at citizen's rights, the outstanding bill Britain must pay for previous EU commitments and the Irish border issue. He said once there was sufficient progress on those, the talks would start looking at the EU's new relationship with Britain.

Davis said both sides were "off to a promising start" even though the challenges ahead were daunting.

U.K. negotiator David Davis says that Britain has gone into Brexit negotiations looking for a "positive and constructive tone" to deal with the myriad issues dividing both sides.

Reflecting on Britain's longtime EU membership, Davis says that "there is more that unites us than divides us" despite the June 23, 2016 referendum in which Britain decided to break away from the 27 other member nations.

EU negotiator Michel Barnier said the negotiations which should lead to a breakup by March 2019 "must first tackle the uncertainties caused by Brexit — first for citizens, but also for the beneficiaries of the EU policies and for the impact on borders, in particular Ireland."

Thanks, LL. Despite all the media noise, I personally think it's far too early to draw conclusions from anything. Also, the real work will be being done behind the scenes.

You are welcome, bonny. I thought a new thread was called for as here is no real connection between this and the Election thread. LL

Quite, LL - and it's likely to turn into a very long thread. I don't see these negotiations being over quickly....

bb1 wrote:Quite, LL - and it's likely to turn into a very long thread. I don't see these negotiations being over quickly....

Agreed, so perhaps making it a sticky thread is in order? LL

May offers hope for EU citizens, wins guarded praise.

BRUSSELS (AP) — British Prime Minister Theresa May promised Thursday that EU citizens will not be immediately kicked out of Britain when it leaves the union and says their fate will be a top priority in Brexit negotiations — prompting guarded praise from other EU leaders at a tense time for the continent.

May's proposals at an EU summit were a carefully timed gesture days after talks began on Britain's departure. German Chancellor Angela Merkel called them "a good start." May laid out benchmarks for the rights of 3 million EU citizens living legally in Britain and how they should be shielded from excessive harm because of the divorce. She made it clear that Britain wants reciprocal measures for the 1.5 million British citizens living in the EU. The issue of citizens' rights is especially sensitive in the Brexit talks.

Under May's proposal, EU citizens with legal residence in the UK will not be asked to leave and will be offered a chance to regularize their situation after Brexit, a senior British official said. May also promised to cut the burdensome bureaucracy such paperwork can involve, the official said.

"No one will face a cliff edge," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity since May made the proposal at a closed-door EU summit dinner. Merkel welcomed May's promises, but insisted that "there are, of course, many, many other issues." She mentioned the bill that Britain will have to pay to leave and questions about how to deal with the border between Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland.

"It means we have lots left to do," Merkel said. Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern said May's proposals are "a first step" but warned there are still many European citizens in Britain who would not be covered by the proposals. "We are now at the start of all this and we don't know whether it will be a sprint or a marathon," he said.

The Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, said there are "thousands of questions to ask" about May's proposals, and questioned why the British leader was laying them out with EU leaders instead of with the Brexit negotiators.

Britain's departure in 2019 will cause the EU to lose one of its biggest members and a global player, but the other EU nations were already looking at some of the spoils of the divorce. They will decide in November where the EU agencies currently based in Britain will move to on the continent, EU chief Donald Tusk announced.

The bloc's medicines and banking agencies are now in London, and almost every EU nation wants one of the two agencies. On Thursday, the EU leaders agreed on procedures for a fair pick. Discord over whether Britain's exit process could still be reversed surfaced at the summit.

Tusk said when British friends asked him if he could imagine a way for Britain to remain part of the bloc, he told them: "The EU was built on dreams that seemed impossible to achieve. So who knows?" "You may say I am a dreamer but I'm not the only one," Tusk added, quoting a lyric from the late John Lennon's "Imagine."

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel, however, said the will of the British people who voted in a June 2016 referendum to leave the EU had to be respected. "I am not a dreamer. And I am not the only one," Michel said.

Michel insisted Brexit negotiations should proceed without fanciful distractions. "What we also need is certainty, for our companies in Belgium, in Europe," he said. "If we back this image that Brexit perhaps would not happen, it brings an uncertainty."

Merkel also focused on imagining an EU without Britain. "For me, shaping the future of the 27 (remaining) member states has priority over the question of the negotiations with Britain on its exit," Merkel said.

French President Emmanuel Macron pledged at his first EU summit as head of state to breathe new life into a European Union stung by Britain's departure and deeply divided over the best way to accommodate refugees.

He pushed at the summit for joint European defense, a joint budget for countries that use the euro and a tougher stance against the U.S. and China on trade. Macron promised to forge ahead with Germany to make the bloc stronger and more relevant to citizens.

"Europe is not, to my mind, just an idea. It's a project, an ambition," he told reporters. On the opening day of the two-day leader's summit, the EU announced agreements on extending sanctions against Russia and on fighting climate change.

After a string of small-scale terrorist attacks in European capitals this week, the EU leaders also agreed to join efforts seeking to curb online extremism and crack down on Europeans who go abroad to fight jihad. They also agreed to jointly develop or purchase military equipment like drones.

''Europe is not, to my mind, just an idea. It's a project, an ambition," he told reporters

And there is the entire problem, IMO. Macron - recently described by one commentator as 'Napoleon in a shiny suit' - thinks more Europe, more power and perks for his kind is good, while the poor sods at the bottom find it rather evil.

Bankrupting Greece? Bullying the V-4 countries over Merkel's surplus party guests? All part of the project to them!

Ideally, I would like to see the whole EU (which is NOT Europe) taken back to the basics, to being a trading bloc with perks involving work, etc., for the members.

No vast, bullying bureaucracy, no Green nonsense about lightbulbs and vacuum cleaners, no meddling, and most of all no EU armies.

And no more encouraging mass immigration from the Third World - these people are also victims of the EU monster, let us not forget, having been falsely told Europeans just cannot wait for them to turn up and give them Free Stuff. When the reality is that if they do get work, it's little more than slave labour.

Shame on the EU for trying to use these people in some sort of human Ponzi scheme!

UK to pull out of fishing deal that let others in its waters

LONDON (AP) — Britain is pulling out of an agreement that permits fishermen from five other countries to operate in U.K. waters, the first step in reasserting control over its fishing industry as it prepares to leave the European Union.

The government announced Sunday it will trigger the two-year process of leaving the London Fisheries Convention, which allows vessels from France, Belgium, Germany, Ireland and the Netherlands to fish between six and 12 nautical miles off the U.K. coastline.

Britain signed the convention before it joined the EU and would be bound by its terms after leaving the bloc unless it starts to withdraw from the treaty now. Environment Secretary Michael Gove said the move will lead "to a more competitive, profitable and sustainable industry for the whole of the U.K."

That's been the cause of a great deal of anger in fishing communities - those that haven't already been destroyed by giving away huge chunks of our waters.

City cheers looming end of euro-clearing oversight.

London was supposed to be angry at potentially losing its nearly €1 trillion-a-day euro-clearing business. But maybe not.

U.K. regulators and senior City officials are rejoicing at the possibility of losing regulatory oversight of London’s lucrative euro-clearing business to the EU.

Sound strange? It’s a result of Brexit, which has led the U.K. to plead for the “least-worst” option in financial services negotiations so London can retain some sort of financial power following its exit from the EU.

At a conference in London on Thursday it became clear that bank chiefs and regulators, including the Financial Conduct Authority’s Andrew Bailey, would rather relinquish oversight of clearing houses to EU supervisors post-Brexit than see clearing of euro-denominated derivatives move into the eurozone.

Ultimately, what City watchdogs are calling for is more supervisory powers for European regulators, despite no longer being part of the bloc — hardly what the Brexit camp’s “take back control” mantra had in mind.

It all stems from a proposal from the European Commission, which empowers Brussels to strip London of its nearly €1 trillion-a-day euro-clearing business if overseas clearing houses pose economic risks to the EU. That “location policy” would not automatically be triggered post Brexit, however, leaving the U.K. some wiggle room. But if a risky London-based clearing house wants to continue to offer services to clients in the bloc, it would be subject to additional obligations set by EU authorities and central banks.

Speaking Thursday, the FCA’s Bailey welcomed the Commission’s proposal, which he said “is not a clear location policy saying you have to move …. We know enough about how to do regulatory cooperation. We can make that work.”

Even Xavier Rolet, chief executive of the London Stock Exchange Group — which owns a majority stake in London-based clearing house giant LCH — described the shared regulatory approach as “wise.”

For hard-line Brexiteers, the situation is not exactly ideal, but even they must concede the alternative of euro-clearing hopping over to the Continent is far worse. According to a report published this week, a Brussels-led euro-clearing land grab would cost banks in the region of €30 to €40 billion — plus it would seriously undermine London’s status as the de facto European financial hub.

It might be the least worst option in economic terms, but in political terms, it’s EU: 1, U.K.: 0.

http://www.politico.eu/article/city-of-london-cheers-looming-end-of-euro-clearing/
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Jeremy Corbyn to meet Michel Barnier next week to talk Brexit.

It will be the first meeting between Labour leader and EU’s Brexit negotiator.

U.K. opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn is set to meet the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier next week to “outline” the Labour Party’s position on the Brexit talks.

The meeting will take place next week, Corbyn told Bloomberg. A Commission source confirmed the meeting.

“Fundamentally we want to make sure there is a tariff-free trade access to the European market because it is crucial. Half of our trade is with Europe,” said Corbyn, adding his party will push to guarantee the rights of EU citizens in the U.K. as well for the U.K. not to become an “offshore tax haven on the shores of Europe.” It will be the first encounter between Barnier and the Labour leader.

Corbyn will arrive in Brussels next Thursday, a day after Barnier briefs European commissioners during their weekly meeting on the British proposal on the right of the 3.2 million EU citizens’ in the U.K. once it leaves the bloc in March 2019.

Both the EU and the U.K. negotiating teams meet in Brussels on July 17 to discuss the citizens’ rights issue.

http://www.politico.eu/article/jeremy-corbyn-to-meet-michel-barnier-next-week-to-talk-brexit/
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Michel Barnier calls for ‘more ambition’ from UK on citizens’ rights.

Brexit negotiator says Brussels’ goal on citizens’ rights was the “same level of protection as in EU law.”

The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, responded to Theresa May’s offer to EU citizens living in the U.K. by calling for “more ambition, clarity and guarantees.”

On Twitter, Barnier said the EU’s goal on citizens’ rights was the “same level of protection as in EU law.”

May had said earlier Monday that all EU citizens who move to the U.K. before Britain’s formal withdrawal will be given “blanket permission” to stay in the country for up to two years after Brexit to give them time to apply for official residency rights.

The offer seeks to avoid a “cliff edge” scenario the day after Brexit when EU citizens’ right to move to the U.K. comes to an end.

The British prime minister said this meant no EU citizen in the country before Britain leaves the bloc on March 29, 2019 will have to leave.

http://www.politico.eu/article/michel-barnier-calls-for-more-ambition-from-uk-on-citizens-rights/

U.K. regulators and senior City officials are rejoicing at the possibility of losing regulatory oversight of London’s lucrative euro-clearing business to the EU.

That one's a bit over my head, due to knowing virtually nothing about high finance and the City.

EU parliament threatens veto on Brexit over citizens' rights.

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Parliament on Monday set itself on a collision course with Britain, making a damning assessment of British proposals on EU citizens' rights after the U.K. leaves the European Union.

The legislature indicated it would be using its power of veto on the negotiations if Britain did not become more lenient on the rights of EU citizens living in the country, a further indication of how tough the two-year negotiations are expected to become.

In a letter Monday to EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier, the group said EU citizens in Britain would be looking at "nothing less than relegation to second-class status," adding that the U.K. proposals made on June 26 do not "respect the principles of reciprocity, symmetry and non-discrimination."

Citizens' rights in each other's nations are considered the first issue that both sides must settle. "It is clear we will not approve any deal which diminishes the rights of EU citizens in the U.K. or U.K. citizens in the EU," Guy Verhofstadt, the EU Parliament's chief Brexit official, told the AP.

Even though Barnier is leading the negotiations for the EU as a whole, the European Parliament still has a veto right on any deal. So Verhofstadt's words carry power and should boost the standing of Barnier when he meets with his British counterpart David Davis next week.

British Prime Minister Theresa May had first floated her ideas on protecting the rights of each other's citizens at an EU summit in late June. The U.K. proposal offers EU nationals who have lived in Britain for at least five years — as of an unspecified cut-off date — "settled status," with the right to live, work and access benefits. The estimated 3 million EU nationals in Britain would all have to apply individually for permission to stay, and it's unclear what the plan would mean for those who have been in the U.K. for a shorter time.

The other EU leaders were halfhearted at best about what May called a "generous" offer on protecting the rights of EU citizens. After carefully studying the details, the EU Parliament's Brexit Steering Group was much more definitive and said too much of Britain's optimistic talk was just a smoke screen. It indicated it wouldn't be good enough for the legislature.

"The rights of EU citizens in the U.K. will be reduced to a level lower than third country nationals in the EU," the letter to Barnier said. "The aspirational language used in relation to rights as important as the right to health or the recognition of diploma and professional qualifications does not provide the much-needed guarantees."

"Above all," the four-page letter brimming with scathing comments added, EU citizens in Britain would have "no life-long protection." The EU parliament wants citizens from both sides to receive "fair treatment" and their rights "given full priority in the negotiations."

Alongside citizens' rights, the Brexit negotiators will first have to address the substantial bill that Britain will have to pay to quit the EU and the problems surrounding the border in Ireland. The withdrawal process of Britain from the EU should be completed by March 2019, meaning negotiators only have up to the fall of 2018 to agree, not only on the disentanglement of the country but also on setting up a new relationship.

The EU has said once there is "sufficient" progress on such withdrawal issues as the rights of citizens, it could start talks simultaneously on a new relationship and a trade deal. The difficulties already surrounding the first issue indicate that it could become a tough job.

Verhofstadt's another one I keep expecting to get arrested for unsavoury sex crimes - he doesn't seem to know what a bar of soap is.

And maybe mainland UK, Ulster and the Republic should be left to sort out the border issue to their own satisfaction?

Australian PM wants 'speedy' free trade deal with UK post-Brexit.

Australia's Prime Minister has said his country wants to "speedily" agree a free trade deal with Britain after Brexit.

Speaking alongside Theresa May during a joint news conference at Number 10, Malcolm Turnbull said: "As Britain moves to completing its exit from the EU, we stand ready to enter into a free trade agreement with the UK as soon as the UK is able to do so.

"Once Brexit is achieved, we look forward to speedily concluding a free trade agreement. At the same time, we are looking forward to the early conclusion of a free trade agreement with the EU."

When asked how long this would take, Mr Turnbull said: "As soon as possible, if we move quickly.

"Australians are fleet of foot, we don't muck around... we will move as quickly as the UK is able to move."

The comments will be a boost for Mrs May, and come in the wake of positive noises from US President Donald Trump about the prospect of Washington and London negotiating a trade agreement once Britain leaves the European Union.

Speaking during the news conference, Mrs May said a trade deal with Australia was a "priority" for the UK to build on the £14bn-worth of trade between the two countries post-Brexit.

The Prime Minister said International Trade Secretary Liam Fox would visit Australia in the "coming months" as part of ongoing talks.

"We've both made clear our intention to continue to deepen our trade and investment relationship as the UK leaves the EU," she said.

"Our Brexit negotiations have started well, and I have made clear to Prime Minister Turnbull that an ambitious and comprehensive bilateral trade deal with Australia remains a priority for the UK.

"Australia was the first country with whom the UK established a trade working group following the vote to leave the EU and we're keeping up a regular and productive dialogue on the future of our free trading relationship."

Mr Turnbull said he viewed Mrs May's vision of Brexit as a chance for Britain to take on a new global role with "big horizons and big opportunities", and said he wanted Australia to be a partner in that endeavour.

"There are no two nations in the world that trust each other more than the UK and Australia," he said.

"We are family in a historical sense, we are family in a genetical sense. We are so close, and that trust is getting stronger all the time."

Labour MP Ben Bradshaw, a leading supporter of the campaign group Open Britain, said: "A free trade deal with Australia would be good news, but with it accounting for just 1.4% of our exports, it is a drop in the ocean compared to the EU market on our doorstep which accounts for half our trade.

"This demonstrates the foolishness of betting the house on trade deals which may not happen for years, when the Government is committed to quickly pulling us out of the single market and the Customs Union, a combination of which gives us free trade across the European Union and trade deals with over 50 other countries."

Mr Turnbull's trip included a visit to Borough Market to speak to members of the emergency services who responded to the London Bridge terror attack and also those affected by the atrocity.

Mrs May said she and Mr Turnbull had discussed cooperation in the fight against terrorism and in denying the use of the internet as a "safe space" for extremist groups.

That all seems quite sensible - for a change....

Jeremy Corbyn: Labour is ready to negotiate Brexit.

Ahead of talks with the EU's negotiator, the Labour leader says his party would conduct negotiations with Brussels "respectfully".

Jeremy Corbyn will meet the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier in Brussels and vow that Labour is a "government in waiting" ready to negotiate Brexit.

It is the first meeting between the leader of the opposition and the key EU figure in Brexit talks, and comes just a day after Mr Barnier hit back at Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson for his suggestion that the EU should "go whistle" over a multi-billion financial settlement.

Mr Corbyn criticised the Tory approach to the negotiations, saying: "In contrast to the Conservatives' megaphone diplomacy, we will conduct relations with our European neighbours respectfully and in the spirit of friendship.

"Our strong links with our European sister parties gives Labour an advantage in reaching an outcome that works for both sides". More at link.

http://news.sky.com/story/jeremy-corbyn-labour-is-ready-to-negotiate-brexit-10946440

Addressing the crowds from the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury and then to the Durham miners' gala, the election may be over but Jeremy Corbyn is in "permanent campaign mode".

This summer, he'll embark on a whirlwind tour of dozens of Labour's target seats in anticipation of the collapse of Theresa May's government.

But there is a subtext too: Mr Corbyn likes nothing more than a soapbox, a megaphone and a pliant crowd. Mire at link.

http://news.sky.com/story/sky-views-is-labour-making-a-big-mistake-10946533

Mr Corbyn likes nothing more than a soapbox, a megaphone and a pliant crowd.

Oh, we've got one of those too, LL, she just managed to hide it for a little longer. IMO, Corbyn is going to crash and burn, just like Sturgeon has. As long as he gets nowhere near no 10....

Brexit: Labour Vows To Defeat Government Over New 'Repeal' Bill's Sweeping Medieval Powers.

Theresa May is facing the threat of Parliamentary defeat over Brexit after Labour vowed to stop her from railroading a new EU ‘repeal’ bill through the Commons.

The prospect of a major constitutional showdown loomed as it emerged that the flagship European Union (Withdrawal Bill) will give ministers sweeping powers over the shape of the UK’s exit.

A new raft of so-called ‘Henry VIII powers’ will be handed to May and Brexit Secretary David Davis, allowing them to avoid Parliamentary scrutiny of up to 1,000 different regulations.

The medieval powers, which give the Government the right to change the law at the stroke of a pen, are set to spark intense opposition from both MPs and peers opposed to an ‘extreme Brexit’.

Davis will be allowed to set up brand new quangos and regulators to replace European-wide ones.

The new repeal bill also removes the UK from the EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights, a move that will be bitterly fought by Labour and other parties which see that as an attack on citizens’ freedoms.

With the government’s working majority standing at just 13 – even with the backing of the DUP - Labour need to win over only seven Tory rebels to inflict defeat.

As Jeremy Corbyn met EU negotiators in Brussels, the Lib Dems have also warned they will fight like “hell” to block the bill.

In a sign that ministers are worried about defeat, the bill will not be put to a vote until the autumn at the earlies.

The House of Lords, which has a clear anti-Tory majority of Labour, Lib Dem and crossbench peers, has already given notice it will fight any moves by ministers to avoid scrutiny.

So-called Henry VIII powers, gave the monarch the right in 1539 to make law by ‘proclamation’, enable primary legislation to be changed or repealed without Parliament having a full say.

The new bill will repeal the European Communities Act 1972, which took Britain into the EU and remove the supremacy of Brussels law.

The EU (Withdrawal) Bill includes a key section granting ministers their new powers to bypass Parliament for up to two years even after Brexit takes place on March 31, 2019.

HuffPost UK has been told that the two-year limit was aimed at allowing “an orderly flow” of legislation over coming years, as Parliament risks getting clogged up with thousands of Statutory Instruments needed to transfer EU law into British law.

The publication of the bill came as the head of the National Audit Office public spending watchdog, Sir Amyas Morse, warned that the government was so ill-prepared for Brexit, it could fall apart “like a chocolate orange”.

A key section of the new bill states: “The charter of fundamental rights is not part of domestic law on or after exit day.”

Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer declared that he was “putting the government on notice” and demanded more parliamentary scrutiny as well as guarantees of workers’ rights.

Davis insisted that the new repeal bill would provide “maximum certainty, continuity and control”, calling it “one of the most significant pieces of legislation that has ever passed through parliament and a major milestone in the process of our withdrawal from the European Union”.

https://uk.news.yahoo.com/brexit-labour-vows-defeat-government-111419952.html

Labour Brexit row erupts as Chuka Umunna accuses Emily Thornberry of being 'disrespectful'.

Labour infighting over Brexit flared up today with Chuka Umunna accusing shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry of being “disrespectful” to him in a row over the single market.

Streatham MP MP Umunna tabled an amendment to the Queen Speech for Britain to remain in the single market after it quits the European Union.

It was supported by nearly 50 Labours who defied Jeremy Corbyn by not abstaining during the vote last month.

He sacked three shadow ministers - London MPs Catherine West, Ruth Cadbury and Andy Slaughter – who voted in favour of the amendment.

Ms Thornberry, one of Mr Corbyn’s closest allies, accused Mr Umunna and other Labour MPs of “virtue signalling” with the vote, and fighting “faux battles”.
More at link.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/chuka-umunna-accuses-emily-thornberry-092900470.html

David Davis resists pressure for rethink on Euratom and confirms Britain will set up its own nuclear regulator.

Brexit Secretary David Davis has resisted pressure from colleagues to remain a member of the European civil nuclear regular, Euratom, as his department published a policy paper insisting the UK will replace it with its own regime.

Euratom - set up in 1957 - is responsible for regulating the nuclear industry across the continent, disposing of waste, carrying out nuclear research and development, safeguarding the transport of nuclear materials, and the mobility of workers and trade in the nuclear sector.

But on Thursday, Mr Davis’ department published three policy papers, including one on the European Atomic Energy Community, also known as Euratom, and the role of the European Court of Justice (ECJ).

On Euratom, the UK insisted that when Theresa May, the Prime Minister, invoked Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, triggering the Brexit process, the intention to leave the nuclear regulator was also provided.

“This reflects the fact that the Treaties of the EU and Euratom are uniquely legally joined,” the policy paper adds.

But immediately after the publication of the Euratom document, it was criticised as raising more question than it does answers. It was unclear whether Britain, for example, would gain ownership of nuclear safeguard equipment owned by Euratom but located in the UK after Brexit. The policy paper also failed to include any details regarding a timetable for transition to a UK nuclear regulator.

Norman Lamb, the Liberal Democrat’s health spokesperson, who also chairs the science and technology select committee in the Commons, said: “The paper raises more questions than it does answers.”

He continued: “No details have been given on how the transition to a new UK nuclear regulator will be achieved on time, and no mention has been made of medical isotopes for cancer treatment. This will do nothing to reassure cancer patients worries about potential delays to their treatments.

The briefing paper on Euratom also emphasises that there is a “strong, mutual interest” in ensuring Britain and the members of Euratom continue to work closely following Brexit. It adds: “The UK’s ambition is to maintain a close and effective relationship with the Euratom Community and the rest of the world that harnesses the UK’s and Euratom Community’s expertise and maximises shared interests.”

David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, who will present the policy papers to the European Commission next week ahead of the second round of negotiations, said: “These position papers mark the fair and transparent way the UK is approaching Brexit negotiations ahead of the second round of talks next week – and demonstrate how deciding the shape of our future partnership with the EU is inextricably linked with our withdrawal talks.”

He added: “While we’re leaving the EU we are not leaving Europe and we want to continue operating with out friends and neighbours on issues of mutual importance including nuclear safeguards.”
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/david-davis-resists-pressure-rethink-120000028.html

I freely admit that Euratom is one of the many things I know nothing about, LL.

Meanwhile, I see Michel Barnier has the misfortune to have to meet Sturgeon AND Corbyn today; even worse, Corbyn is the more sensible and well-mannered of the two.....

Repeal Bill: Battle lines drawn as key Brexit legislation published.

The Government has published the central plank of its Brexit strategy, but Theresa May has been warned she faces "hell" in trying to get the Repeal Bill through Parliament.

The legislation, which ends the supremacy of EU law over British legislation and repeals the bill that took the country into the bloc, will "maximise continuity" on the day of UK's departure "where it is practical and sensible", according to the Government.

EU laws will be converted into domestic law, allowing the Government to decide which rules and regulations it wants to keep post-Brexit.

The Government hopes the bill will give confidence to businesses, workers and consumers that they will not face unexpected changes on the day of Brexit.

But the first battle lines over the key piece of legislation have already been drawn.

Labour has previously said it will vote against the bill if the European Charter of Fundamental Rights is not incorporated into British law, and the Government has now confirmed it will be ditched.

It is the first of many fierce battlegrounds on the legislation, which was formally called the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill.

Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron has warned ministers they face "hell" as they try to get the bill through the Houses of Commons and Lords.

The Prime Minister and Brexit Secretary David Davis have called on parties to work together to ensure the bill goes through Parliament.

But Mrs May's minority government has put itself on collision course with Labour, with Jeremy Corbyn's party making the charter a "red line" for its support of the bill.

Ministers are understood to believe the rights in the charter are contained in the EU rules which the legislation will convert into domestic law.

Britain will also keep its own domestic rights and protections and remain a member of the European Convention on Human Rights, leading the Government to believe leaving the charter will not have a significant effect.

But shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer has made clear Labour would not support the Bill in its current form.

He has demanded concessions in six areas, including incorporating the charter into UK law, ensuring workers' rights in the UK do not fall behind those in the EU, and limiting the scope of so-called "Henry VIII powers", which could allow the Government to alter legislation without full parliamentary scrutiny.

As well as the clash on the charter, there is also likely to be a clash over the bill's creation of the "Henry VIII powers", which the Government insists will be limited to correct minor issues in the law.

It is understood that the number of new regulators required is estimated to be in single figures.

But 800 to 1,000 pieces of secondary legislation, known as statutory instruments, are likely to be required under the powers and given there is two-year window in which to exercise them, there are likely to be objections from MPs and peers.
Video at link.
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/repeal-bill-key-brexit-legislation-published-government-110900870.html

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/live/2017/jul/13/brexit-repeal-bill-minister-says-government-ready-to-listen-as-repeal-bill-published-and-labour-threatens-to-block-it-politics-live



Typical expression of normal people when bombarded with a Sturgeon list of Demands.