Mehreen Khan Profile picture
Economics Editor @thetimes. Formerly Brussels correspondent @ft - views are mine but we can share them.
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Oct 12, 2022 6 tweets 1 min read
NEW: Andrew Bailey and Kwasi Kwarteng attended a meeting of the G7 counterparts in Washington this afternoon, where their counterparts, led by Janet Yellen, made a number of "backhanded" swipes at events in the UK Finance ministers, led by Yellen, warned against governments carrying out unfunded tax cuts and policies that threatened financial stability. Canada's finance minister Freedland also chipped in
Oct 11, 2022 5 tweets 2 min read
Bailey admits that the Bank's emergency liquidity interventions mean that its monetary policy goals and its financial stability mandate are now running in opposite directions. This is in contrast to the last dash for cash in March 2020, when QE achieved both goals. Image ‼️‼️ BoE Bailey sends clear warning that BoE interventions will end on Friday. He tells funds: "You've got three days left to get this done".
Oct 11, 2022 4 tweets 1 min read
IMF has downgraded its 2023 global growth forecasts today (from slowest onwards, non exhaustive list):
🇷🇺 -2.3%
🇩🇪 -0.3%
🇮🇹 -0.2%
🇸🇪 -0.1%
🇬🇧 0.3%
🇧🇪 0.4%
🇫🇷 0.7%
🇳🇱 0.8%
🇺🇸 1.0%
🇧🇷 1.0%
🇨🇦 1.5%
🇯🇵 1.6%
🇨🇳 4.4%
🇮🇳 6.1% The 🇬🇧 is due to suffer the worst average inflation rate of the advanced economies (9% in 2022, 9.1% in 2023). But the IMF forecast for a "significant slowdown" in growth does not factor in policies announced in the mini-budget on Sept 23
Dec 31, 2021 11 tweets 4 min read
Happy new year from Planet Brussels where this has just landed in some people's inboxes 🎁 #taxonomy A 60-page draft #taxonomy text landed in inboxes of member states minutes before 2022 struck. A "consultation" process - which does not involve MEPs - will run until mid Jan. Some highlights on what's included 👇
Nov 24, 2021 6 tweets 1 min read
German Greens have won the right to propose the country's next EU commissioner. There has been an expectation that VDL would serve two terms. It's a canny move which will mean VDL will feel obliged to keep Greens on side for next 2.5 years. Pilling pressure on VDL already, vice chair of Greens speculates how "cool" it would be to have a Green European Commission President
Oct 4, 2021 10 tweets 5 min read
France's finance minister has arrived at the #Eurogroup fuming at the state of EU energy market rules calling them "unfit for purpose" after energy price rises have "become unbearable for our citizens and businesses" Le Maire will be teaming up with Spain's Nadia Calvino today to demand Brussels reform EU energy market rules to better regulate gas stocks and scrap a marginal pricing system so price of electricity production in each MS reflects costs for consumers ft.com/content/463d0e…
Sep 16, 2021 6 tweets 2 min read
Commission says EU "was not informed" about AUKUS deal from the involved parties. The announcement came hours after von der Leyen's attempt to counteract Chinese influence with a "global gateway" and today's Indo-Pacific strategy that has been blown out the water so to speak 🛥️ EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell will face journalists in a few hours at a press conference on the Indo-Pacific strategy which was celebrated only yesterday as a "milestone" for EU influence in the region
Jul 15, 2021 7 tweets 3 min read
The EU's highest court has today again upheld the right of employers to sack Muslim women from their jobs for wearing the headscarf if justified by notion of "neutrality". The ECJ also seems to admit that this is a form of discrimination 🤷‍♀️ Today's ECJ ruling on the hijab is latest in a string upholding companies rights to not employ Muslim women if they think it's bad for their business. ECJ suggests that if customers or clients of a company say they don't want to see Muslim women in such jobs, that is also fine.
Jul 14, 2021 10 tweets 3 min read
It's Fit For 55 day in Brussels. College of commissioners is still holed up in Brussels making final adjustments to ~13 pieces of legislation that will impose sweeping costs on households and businesses for polluting. College meeting could drag on for another hour at least... Most sensitive parts of today's package is how to limit what Brussels admits is a "regressive" system to impose carbon price on cars and heating of buildings. Germany is among the few countries firmly behind a new mini ETS for 🚘🏠. France, CEE, and south need to be convinced
May 25, 2021 9 tweets 4 min read
#euco discussion on climate ongoing for a few hours. Some highlights:
- 🇵🇱 reject draft conclusions, demanding removal of reference to carbon pricing. Poles pushing for € to compensate for expanded ETS
- 🇪🇺 VdL confirms cars & buildings will be gradually introduced to ETS - Polish PM tells #euco Poland faces additional cost of €4bn under new ETS
- 🇷🇴🇧🇬🇱🇻 also warn against steep rise in their national emissions targets if Commission tweaks effort sharing criteria
- Merkel 🇩🇪 and other richer countries want east and others to suck it up on ESR
May 24, 2021 16 tweets 7 min read
EU leaders prepare to talk Belarus at #euco tonight. MS like Poland and others want to consider sweeping economic sanctions against Lukashenko regime but that is unlikely to win favour with 🇫🇷🇩🇪. More viable option at this stage are targeted measures against 🇧🇾 individuals/biz Lithuania's Gitanas Nauseda arrives at #euco calling on EU to embrace three decisions tonight against Belarus
- closing of Belarusian airspace to EU airlines
- declaration of Belarusian airspace as "unsafe" for civil flights
- extension of framework against sanctions
May 24, 2021 6 tweets 3 min read
Lufthansa flight from Minsk to Frankfurt looks to have been grounded hours ahead of an EU summit where leaders are due to discuss possibility of banning Belarus flights from landing in the EU. Possible sign of tit-for-tat to come #EUCO EU has summoned Belarus's ambassador this afternoon #euco
May 14, 2021 4 tweets 2 min read
The propagation, normalisation and acceptability of Islamophobia among Europe's right, left, and centrist parties bleeds into EU governments and Brussels stance on Israel/Palestine in a way that wasn't the case in 2014 Overt anti-migrant, anti-Muslim/Arab politics in EU has been a norm since '15 migrant crisis. No surprise then that France's interior minister, whose centrist government targets 'Islamo-Gauchists' at home, has told Paris police to ban 🇵🇸 solidarity march
Apr 1, 2021 5 tweets 2 min read
Mark Rutte is closer to resigning as PM than at any point in his 11 years. Dutch parliament holding a debate now and likely vote of no confidence in Rutte tonight after he was caught lying about having a prominent gov critic - Pieter Omtzigt - as a minister in a new coalition Rutte's offence in this case is not particularly egregious - particularly compared to his government's endemic racial profiling in the tax ministry that led to the fall of the cabinet. But this may be the lie that break's the camel's back for Rutte
Apr 1, 2021 6 tweets 1 min read
EU's vaccines bazaar is back again today. Last night, Slovenia and Czech Republic joined Austria in blocking a 30/70% division of 10m vaccines. Latest draft presidency 🇵🇹 proposal offers to *cut* additional vaccines for AT, CZ, SL. 3m would then be shared among 🇧🇬🇱🇻🇪🇪🇭🇷🇸🇰 For those who think the EU has no sense of humour: the Czech Republic is rewarded for blocking the first proposal by having its additional vaccines share cut from around 140k to 70k. The missing 70k would be distributed to its allies in Austria and Slovenia.
Mar 22, 2021 4 tweets 1 min read
🔔After Sebastian Kurz's broadsides against the EU and demands for a vaccine correction mechanism, the EU is now considering ways to send extra vaccines to hard hit countries - excluding Austria ft.com/content/f0e74a… Germany leading a plan to redistribute portion of 10m additional Pfizer vaccines to countries hardest hit. Contenders include 🇨🇿 🇧🇬🇭🇷🇱🇻🇪🇪 but not 🇦🇹. EU diplomats says Kurz tactics mean he won't get "one jab more". They also point out that 🇦🇹not facing immediate vaccine squeeze
Nov 19, 2020 5 tweets 2 min read
EU leaders had a 16 min discussion on rule of law #MFF tonight #euco. Orban gave a concise and to the point expalanation of Hungary's stance. There were no fireworks or emotive pleas from the rest, including Merkel. One diplomat describes it as "stage managed" to avoid a bust up Merkel kicked off #euco proceedings with a technical intervention about need to get a dealHungary, Slovenia, and Poland all took the floor at. Diplomats don't think Polish veto is as solid as the Hungarian one (for now) while Jansa is playing for a domestic crowd.
Nov 19, 2020 6 tweets 2 min read
EU officials still hoping that Project Fear will bite on Hungary and Poland who face huge financial losses if there is no budget agreement this year, forcing Brussels to fall back on a "provisional twelfths" budget for the first time since 1988 ft.com/content/dd8c23… Dec 7 marks the formal end of the "conciliation" period between MEPs and the council to agree a new budget for 2021. If there is no deal at this point, the EU's emergency austerity budget automatically kicks in from Jan 1 based on extending the budget ceilings from 2020.
Nov 9, 2020 4 tweets 2 min read
Pushed by 🇫🇷 🇦🇹, 🇩🇪 EU presidency wants #euco to sign off on push against Islamic radicalism and terrorism. Draft text connects radicalisation/terrorism with migration and integration, calling for sanctions for a "refusal to integrate" like removing funding from NGOs Anti-terror draft says migrants must make active effort to "successfully integrate" and prove adherence to EU values. Reference to children captures French discomfort at alleged "separatism" not of migrants but 2nd/3rd generation French Muslim citizens who are not immigrants.
Oct 2, 2020 7 tweets 2 min read
French Muslims must be pretty flattered that in a middle of global pandemic and even a European Council, Emmanuel Macron has taken the time out to tell them all how they should stop becoming Islamist separatists. Macron says "Islam is a religion which is experiencing a crisis throughout the world". I'm waiting for him to call us a brain-dead #Separatisme
Oct 1, 2020 13 tweets 4 min read
EU summit stuck on Turkey. #Euco draft text tabled an hour ago:
- repeats EU solidarity with Greece, CY
- calls for halting of TR gas activity
- says if constructive efforts are made in E Med, the council will "launch a positive EU Turkey agenda" and "renergising" with TR Language as it stands seems to be getting nowhere with Cyprus. Diplomats say the discussion has been further complicated by French push to condemn Turkey's role in Nagorno-Karabakh #euco