Reply to: EU states could refuse to approve a trade deal with the UK

[BrilloPad]

I doubt it, but then again will the UK make a success of it in our lifetime?
So many British kids brought up over the last couple of decade by parents who didn't make the time to push them forward, teach them how to solve problems, etc, then the parents say that it's a snowflake generation.
If we don't have business leaders, innovators, inventors and grafters coming along, then all the success is going to belong to the foreign investors (who may or may not be from the EU)

I believe a bigger issue is a lack of social mobility so no-one can see the point of working hard.

However, Europe faces a similar issue. Its the East who will do well for the next 50 years.

[WTFH]

When UK makes a success of it, it will be the end of the gravy train.

I doubt it, but then again will the UK make a success of it in our lifetime?
So many British kids brought up over the last couple of decade by parents who didn't make the time to push them forward, teach them how to solve problems, etc, then the parents say that it's a snowflake generation.
If we don't have business leaders, innovators, inventors and grafters coming along, then all the success is going to belong to the foreign investors (who may or may not be from the EU)

[BrilloPad]

I'm sure the EU is quaking in its boots over that scenario.

When UK makes a success of it, it will be the end of the gravy train.

[NotAllThere]

So tell 'em all to Effoff, we'll go for Hard Brexit and see how long the EU survives with a massive reduction in its net income.

I'm sure the EU is quaking in its boots over that scenario.

[RetSet]

Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, has said EU states could refuse to approve a trade deal with the UK unless the government gives assurances that it will not use Brexit to deregulate and lower standards. He made the comment in meeting with peers last week, the transcript of which has just been published. (See 5.17pm.)

https://www.theguardian.com/politics...-politics-live

Obviously necessary position - nobody in EU can allow free trade black hole with state that would lower overall standards

So tell 'em all to Effoff, we'll go for Hard Brexit and see how long the EU survives with a massive reduction in its net income.

Then maybe we can get round the table with our fellow Europeans and put together some kind of European Economic Community...

Oh...

My parents voted for one of those in the 1970's ...

[Bee]

They can, obviously.

But a better question is, why on earth would they? That is in nobody's best interests, and when it all comes down to it, it is "mutual best interests" that will decide all of this.

Taking the assumption that EU should accept any crap proposal just to ensure the trade deal you are wrong. Unfortunately hard Brexit for sure.

[sasguru]

People who high end Mercedes don't give a monkeys about a 9% tariff

Quite if it stops the hoi polloi being able to afford expensive cars, I'm all for it

[BlasterBates]

I know a little while back the UK was seen as the Jeweled Isle by EU car makers, good place to make money.

Even with huge barriers up the Germans will be able to sell their stuff to the UK. People who buy high end Mercedes don't give a monkeys about a 9% tariff, these people are rich, and in any case they would easily simply build factories for the UK markets. Now the "whoopee" I hear will be misplaced because if they did that it wouldn't replace the thousands of jobs lost at Japanese factories producing for the EU market, it would simply be a small assembly plant with a couple of hundred workers and a lot of robots, manufactured in Germany.

The other thing is that 50% of all goods coming into the UK come from the EU so hiking up tariffs would kill consumer spending and they can't simply drop tariffs elsewhere to compensate because WTO rules forbid it. The WTO favours unfair competition from trading blocks, i.e. you join a trading block or die, so is the modern WTO driven world. Every OECD country is a member of a trading block. No country in the world relies exclusively on WTO conditions putting the UK slightly above North Korea in terms of market access.

All in all the UK is going to get really stuffed in the trade negotiations.

[tomtomagain]

Is that all? Up to 3 years here for either mother or father...

And yet the Germans still don't have enough children to stop their population decreasing. Luckily they found another solution.

[BrilloPad]

Of course it is, this (and the US) is the only country where an unemployed council tenant can drive a new Mercedes.

Bad credit car finance: details of defaults on subprime car loans should be published | Auto Express

If they don't pay then the car is immobilized. So they have to do enough drug deals.....

[sasguru]

I know a little while back the UK was seen as the Jeweled Isle by EU car makers, good place to make money.

Of course it is, this (and the US) is the only country where an unemployed council tenant can drive a new Mercedes.

Bad credit car finance: details of defaults on subprime car loans should be published | Auto Express

[sasguru]

Within the building trade? I don't have enough spare time to go through even 5% of it.

Funny that, there has been lots of documentation about the shoddy state of British new-builds in recent years.
Being an ex- BTLer, I've had experience of this in the not too distant past.
And I travel extensively - Northern Europe definitely has higher standards of building than the UK.
The US is the same shoddy stuff as the UK unless you go top end, same as Southern Europe.

So maybe the quality of the fixtures and fittings is high but the level of build in terms of e.g. sound proofing is piss poor.

[woohoo]

You think they ain't been trying to break into them for the last 30 years?

Fact is the world is now a small place - there are no new markets only emerging markets - main problem is they are not going to be cost effective for selling high end luxury cars, lager and sausages (well maybe lager and sausages)

I know a little while back the UK was seen as the Jeweled Isle by EU car makers, good place to make money.

[woohoo]

I disagree. The EU does not care about their own industry. Just on punishing the UK.

This is the worrying bit for me, I actually think the EU autocrats care more about keeping the bureaucracy and their institutions that ensuring trade continues.

Commonsense approach would be to arrange a deal that enables trade and cooperation to continue, but I reckon the EU autocrats are incapable of thinking this way - they just want to protect their positions. Do I think German business will rise up and stand up for trade, not so sure now.

[original PM]

You think there aren't any potentially growing and larger markets than the Uk?

You think they ain't been trying to break into them for the last 30 years?

Fact is the world is now a small place - there are no new markets only emerging markets - main problem is they are not going to be cost effective for selling high end luxury cars, lager and sausages (well maybe lager and sausages)