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Letter from Phil Hogan, the trade commissioner, to Dutch MPs on Ceta/Canada trade deal undermines EU argument on special, bespoke "level playing field" structures for post-Brexit trade deal
rijksoverheid.nl/documenten/bri…
He wrote to assure them because of concerns over fair competition, he insisted Ceta did not need "monetary or trade sanctions" to enforce standards, like the sort of measures asked of UK
"I would like to emphasise that Ceta’s rules on environment and labour are solid and anchored in a vast network of underlying international conventions and agreements"
Here is the key line: “These provisions are legally binding and enforceable through a dedicated dispute settlement mechanism.”
If binding and enforceable in Ceta then the question of proximity as the rationale for an extra level playing field mechanism/alignment needing "effective enforcement" in UK case is irrelevant
So it makes sense for EU and UK to, as commission puts it "to agree on fair competition standards" but the argument for new enforcement structures, such "application of union law", don't sound as reasonable
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Bruno Waterfield
@BrunoBrussels
France is emphasising (again) that question of duration, terms of the Benn act, can not be separated from purpose or justification
Tusk leaves soon and will replaced by Michel who agrees with Macron
No deal is firmly back on the table - if not next week then in the new year
France can live with Jan 31 2020 but only if there is ratification or elections not if the Westminster deadlock continues status quo ante
Macron will not support Remain via extension tactic of Tusk and Merkel, he can set terms now or later because he has veto & is waving it
EU regret at tactical alliances with Benn and other Labour retainers has been building
thetimes.co.uk/article/eu-off…
Read 4 tweets
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Bruno Waterfield
@BrunoBrussels
No extension decision tonight 
This evening's Coreper is "information point" or state of play pooling views in all 27 capitals
On Friday if there is a consensus decision will be by written procedure for Benn act Jan 31 2020 - or a shorter extension, perhaps a month until Nov 30
EU wants to hear what Johnson wants, many see Benn act date as most neutral but could be a shorter one
If there is no unanimous agreement for written procedure by Fri then #EUCO next Monday, 28 October
Clarification: the decision to seek written procedure or to go for a summit is up to Tusk. His call on Fri - not Coreper
Read 3 tweets
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Bruno Waterfield
@BrunoBrussels
European ambassadors meet tonight for discussion on Tusk’s recommendations - what Johnson has told him will be critical
It’s fair to say he’s jumped the gun, forced the issue, chances for disagreement have risen and thus another #EUCO
So written procedure is still the plan but odds are shortening on a summit
So we might well not get sign off today - French expected to moan but not (YET) to drag everyone to Brussels. Macron's Jupiterian is just rumour
Read 8 tweets

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The Leave Alliance
@LeaveHQ
EU doesn't do mutual recognition of standards for third countries. It does mutual recognition of conformity assessment. Does not apply to all goods. No two MRAs are the same. Look at the differences between countries. Compare Switzerland/Australia

#Brexit
ec.europa.eu/growth/single-…
Recognition of conformity assessment means that the importer can take the certification of an approved testing house in the exporting state without having to insist on testing by a notified body in the territory of a member state.
Routinely this is confused with mutual recognition of standards which the EU simply doesn't extend to third countries. The single market system doesn't allow for standards divergence. Yet high ranking Tories think this can be done in an FTA.
Read 6 tweets
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katya adler
@BBCkatyaadler
When supporters of Boris Johnson say: he achieved what so many claimed was impossible: he got EU to renegotiate #Brexit deal therefore he can also get an EU trade deal done by December next year although many say unlikely .. It’s important to remember the red line PM crossed.. /1
He didn’t get the new Brexit deal by bullying/impressing/charming the EU. He got it by agreeing to protect their single market on island of Ireland after Brexit by putting a customs border down the Irish Sea. Allowing a ‘division’ between NIreland + GB he’d pledged never to do /2
Of course the EU also engaged with Boris Johnson because they believed that he - as a political figure - had a better chance of selling a deal back home to MPs than Theresa May ever had - BUT have a chat in EU circles .. /3
Read 8 tweets
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katya adler
@BBCkatyaadler
« Not in my wildest dreams would I imagine that a possibility » is how an influential European diplomat responded to Boris Johnson’s assertion that a trade deal with the EU can be completed by December next year /1
Surely the diplomat is being unfair, you say. Listen to Michel Barnier and incoming trade commissioner Phil Hogan. They say a deal can be done quickly. The U.K. currently shares EU rules and regulations. How difficult can it be to strip them away to a basic FTA, you say..BUT /2
If Johnson wins a majority in this election and takes U.K. out of EU in Jan, then Brussels is preparing to offer him a quick FTA but with the utmost levels of EU regulation bells and whistles attached (so-called level playing field provisions) /3
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katya adler
@BBCkatyaadler
EU watching indicative votes process closely today- it would welcome softer #Brexit but believes MPs out of touch with reality /1
IF MPs unite around a softer #Brexit and IF Theresa May accepts that wish and communicates it to the EU, Brussels says can amend the political declaration document on post Brexit EU-UK relations in a jiffy BUT /2
All forms of #Brexit (bar no deal or no Brexit) require the much-derided Withdrawal Agreement to pass first /3
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Peter Foster
@pmdfoster
As we wait for #Brexit white smoke from Downing Street, the difficulties of the Cabinet swallowing this deal become clear, as does selling it on *both* sides of the Channel.

There is an alternate reading of @WeyandSabine
remarks to EU ambassadors leaked to @BrunoBrussels ...
@WeyandSabine @BrunoBrussels While London reads this as an EU 'victory' statement, that they have got the UK exactly where they want us - stuck in a Customs Union for the foreseeable, the EU side remains anxious about level playing-field, fishing rights etc /2
@WeyandSabine @BrunoBrussels So on that reading, Weyand was 'selling' the deal to the EU side, because they were worried it was "too generous" to the Brits, and didn't do enough.

And yet the narrative in London is completely the opposite.

Brexit in a nutshell. A dialogue of the deaf.

ENDS
Read 3 tweets
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Paul Chaplin #FBPE 🇪🇺
@CottlestonPie
I'm currently at this #Brexit conference in Copenhagen, where the British ambassador and several #DExEU officials will be on panels with representatives of Danish trade and security. It'll be very interesting to see what's said, especially in light of May's recent Munich speech.
And now that I'm not desperately trying to keep up with livetweeting it, I shall turn my mess of self-retweets into a proper thread. #Brexit #BrexitDK
acknowledges #Brexit will have challenges; emphasises no naïveté regarding "land of milk and honey". Refreshing sense of pragmatism; we'll see how #DExEU and DK reps present it.

#BrexitDK
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