Press

British banks will lose "passporting rights" to do business in the European Union after Brexit, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator has said. Speaking in Brussels on Monday Michel Barnier said that "Brexit means Brexit, everywhere" and that there could be no opt-ins to parts of the single market for certain industries. “On financial services, UK voices suggest that Brexit does not mean Brexit. Brexit means Brexit, everywhere,” Mr Barnier said in a major speech to the Centre for European Reform think-tank.

Michel Barnier says it is odd to be talking about Brexit at a Centre or European Reform conference about the future of the EU. But he goes on
"Brexit could prove to be a turning point in the European project.
The year 2016 could be seen as a moment of reckoning. It could be the point where the EU realises “no one will do for us what we don’t do for ourselves.”
Barnier shows a slide which he says David Cameron used to use to justify his faith in the single market.

France had wanted a smaller group; that Germany’s eastern neighbours are included is an important signal , says Sophia Besch, a security expert at the Centre for European Reform, a London-based think-tank. But for PESCO to succeed, much more is needed, including financial commitments which German voters may still be unwilling to accept.

 Unia próbowała tego wiele razy. Po raz pierwszy inicjatywa może zakończyć się sukcesem – mówiła Sophia Besch, ekspertka think tanku Centre for European Reform w Londynie.

 Po raz pierwszy inicjatywa może zakończyć się sukcesem – mówi Sophia Besch, ekspertka think tanku Centre for European Reform w Londynie. Państwa Europy Środkowowschodniej krytykowały od początku zawarty w PESCO cel budowy tzw. strategicznej autonomii UE, której wielkim zwolennikiem jest prezydent Macron. Uważam, że ta krytyka jest słuszna, bo ten zapis tworzy pole do zbyt wielu interpretacji – uważa Sophia Besch.

John Springford, the director of research at the London-based Centre for European Reform, told me that when it came to deciding whether or not to ask Patel for her resignation, May was without any good options. “If she sacks [Patel], she’s got a disgruntled Leaver on the backbench who might make it difficult for her in Brexit negotiations,” he said, noting that recent polling has shown public trust in May’s ability to negotiate a good Brexit deal has fallen to record lows. “If she doesn’t, she looks weak because prime ministers should use their authority to ensure that breaches of the ministerial code are punished.”