Brexit, The Economy and House Prices (Part 2)

A_Medium_Size_Jock

A few further examples of EU inequalities:

The European Commission — on the day it launched a new diversity strategy — quietly promoted six men and no women to the top civil servant grade within its ranks, according to internal Commission meeting minutes obtained by POLITICO.

This week’s promotions could become a source of embarrassment for the Commission, which has struggled to meet its stated target of putting women in 40 percent of top positions.

http://www.politico.eu/article/the-european-commission-gender-equality-6-men-no-women-promoted-to-top-eurocrat-grade/

There is a glaring omission in the European Commission’s bid to be more diverse.
While the Commission has taken concrete steps to ensure there are more women in management positions, buildings are accessible to disabled staff, and that there is more awareness of the needs of LGBT and older staff members, the Commission’s “Diversity and Inclusion Strategy” fails to include any targets or measures to be more racially inclusive.

https://qz.com/1034672/the-eu-has-cut-race-and-ethnicity-out-of-its-plans-for-staff-diversity/

always_sunny

A_Medium_Size_Jock wrote: »

BTW, we are still "in" the EU; we have not left yet.

That's another 'UK belief'. Technically the UK is still in the EU, however it is a departing member and soon to be a third country. The EU-27 do not look at the UK as a staying member state but more as one that want to distance from the whole EU.

In the continent 'Brexit' as a topic barely makes an appearance and it's not something that it is mentioned as a 'threat' perhaps as a annoyance, i.e. fine, the UK wants to go, hurry up and go.

You can keep telling yourself that 'we are still "in" the EU' and the likes if it makes you feel better.

cogito

always_sunny wrote: »

That's another 'UK belief'. Technically the UK is still in the EU, however it is a departing member and soon to be a third country. The EU-27 do not look at the UK as a staying member state but more as one that want to distance from the whole EU.

In the continent 'Brexit' as a topic barely makes an appearance and it's not something that it is mentioned as a 'threat' perhaps as a annoyance, i.e. fine, the UK wants to go, hurry up and go.

You can keep telling yourself that 'we are still "in" the EU' and the likes if it makes you feel better.

Yes, hurry up and go but keep sending the money.

kabayiri

ilovehouses wrote: »

...
The divorce bill is a different matter. The UK are picking their way through the EU demand. If they had their own position instead of being reactive it would be much easier to move forward.
...

It's actually not so hard.

UK should take over the pension commitments of the UK staff employed in the EU. That's cleaner and simpler than trying to work out some one off payment.

I also think we should pay our contribution up to 2020. That would cover the current EU budget period. Obviously we would derive the benefits we pay for, accordingly.

This leaves the EU clear to rework their budget for the next round, beyond 2020.

I believe we have also been a net contributor for 43 out of the 44 years, so we probably have some assets to set against any liabilities we agree to.

I do realise there aren't many net contributors, so this may be unfamiliar territory with the good people of, say, Luxembourg.

kabayiri

ilovehouses wrote: »

AIUI the UK haven't put forward their own alternative proposal. Your suggestion looks pragmatic and not unreasonable but if that's what the UK wants there's little point keeping it a secret.

I rather think both sides want to keep the dirty washing known as reste' a liquider out of the public eye, if they can.

This is hundreds of billions of Euro, acting as testament that the EU can't budget properly due to fiscal incontinence.

cogito

ilovehouses wrote: »

AIUI the UK haven't put forward their own alternative proposal. Your suggestion looks pragmatic and not unreasonable but if that's what the UK wants there's little point keeping it a secret.

How can the UK put forward an alternative proposal? The EU have yet to establish the legality of their demands nor have they quantified them. We have made it clear that we will honour our commitments which is about as much as we can do at the moment.

You can sum up the EU's position at the moment as follows:

Barnier - 'We want your money'
Davis - 'how much'
Barnier - 'you tell us'

The EU have sent us a chit. We are asking for a detailed invoice.

mayonnaise

UK sidelined as Europe looks beyond Brexit in aerospace

Britain risks losing clout in the aerospace industry, one of its largest skilled employers, due to concerns over its departure from the European Union, a corporate overhaul at Airbus and a new Franco-German push on defense, industry insiders say.

Initiatives from a new continental combat jet to a decision by Airbus (AIR.PA) to downgrade its UK representation, as well as the redeployment of some research projects, have left the $90-billion UK sector feeling increasingly sidelined.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/us-britain-eu-aerospace-analysis-idUKKBN1A616S

kabayiri

cogito wrote: »

How can the UK put forward an alternative proposal? The EU have yet to establish the legality of their demands nor have they quantified them. We have made it clear that we will honour our commitments which is about as much as we can do at the moment.
...

There is no legal commitment. The UK lawyers have already been through the legislation to confirm this.

Whatever we pay is simply goodwill.

It's the same with citizen rights. The EU citizens who choose to remain will be covered by our laws. This is in fact the same as any UK person who chooses to go and live in USA or Iran.

mayonnaise

BofA chooses Dublin for its post-Brexit EU base

Bank of America has picked Dublin as the main base for its EU operations after Brexit and will move both investment banking and markets operations to the Irish capital, chief executive Brian Moynihan told the Financial Times.

Mr Moynihan, who met with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in Dublin today, said it was too soon to say how many jobs the businesses would need, but that the bank would definitely have “more” people in Dublin than the 700 it has today.

That will be achieved through a combination of new hires and moving staff from the bank’s London office.

https://www.ft.com/content/f52e25c1-926d-3ef2-baa3-2177f5a72112

Drip, drip, drip....

always_sunny

cogito wrote: »

Yes, hurry up and go but keep sending the money.

That's another myth, that the EU (and possibly the world) is surviving only British contributions.
The UK contributes and benefits from the EU.
Just look at how businesses are responding to the mention of losing access to the SM; the UK is 'united' on a transitional deal with the EU, etc. Note that this needs to be agreed by the EU before such united front is of any relevance.