holystove

Not really an EU competence that, John, .. forcing countries to organize referendums; let alone "re-run" them. Is this UK 'democracy'? https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-46971390 (Mogg proposes the Queen (!) shuts down Parliament to protect brexit) .. Though if you brought that to this forum, I don't know who would play the Queen.

Yes like Greece. What's your point? Any country can make sovereign choices but it has to stand by the consequences of that choice. If it so whishes, noone can stop Greece from making the sovereign choice to leave the euro.

This, however, is inviting a foreign government to interfere with your sovereign parliament.

Benelux sign agreements often too. You see, as sovereign countries they can do what they want .

The Belgian King (/Queen) also has a lot of powers. And I assume other continental Kings and Queens are not all as (constitutionally) powerless as you claim. However, much like the British Queen, they are not supposed to use their powers. I remember when in the 80's Belgian parliament legalised abortion, the King refused to sign that particular law (without his signature no law can come into effect). After he coudn't be convinced to sign it, they just deposed him for a day.

The only way to be a 100% sure this will turn out like Greece 2015 is to start taking Varoufakis' advice How many times has the Brexit side said "any minute now, German car makers will intervene and force the EU to give us what we want". German car makers have consistently said the integrity of the Single Market is most important. Don't expect much from the "French and Dutch governments" either, as it is the member state governments that have decided the Commission should take a firm line. Norway plus option is fine, the political declaration allows for such a thing to be negotiated. As I have said before however, Canada +++ Norway ++ or whatever else, all require the Withdrawal Agreement to be ratified. The Withdrawal Agreement is the legal basis for the transition period, during which Canada or Norway or.. will be negotiated.

I never backed Brexit wishing the UK harm. Hope everything works out. EU has been trying to set up a common foreign policy for 10 years.. Brexit helps, but countries like Hungary and Poland can still slow things down (be it not as succesfully as the UK).

Yes that is my hope. It's why I backed Brexit.

The EU regards the current deal as the basis for a negotiation. The current deal settles the citizens rights, the financial settlement and creates a back-stop to protect the Good-Friday-Agreement. It says nothing binding about whether the UK will end up with a Norway or Canada deal, or indeed no trade deal at all. The EU will surely attach many, if not all, of what has already been agreed to any mini-deal. So a "managed" no-deal is an illusion, it is either this deal or no-deal. The EU has published its no-deal notices recently and it shows a number of unilateral measures they will take to keep what is necessary for the EU in working order for a short periode of time, during which companies and member states can fully adjust to a no-deal reality. Key word being unilateral.

Up to 11 million now. Wish I had thought of it, this is an excellent scam (and not even illegal).

Alternative funding for the wall https://www.gofundme.com/TheTrumpWall 7.000.000 so far. What a country..

Matt, you're in the clear. The UK and Switzerland have come to an agreement which covers both scenarios, withdrawal agreement or no deal, and it states there will be no change to the status of UK citizens in Switzerland or Swiss citizens in the UK. https://www.ejpd.admin.ch/ejpd/en/home/aktuell/news/2018/2018-12-20.html

All those calling for a second referendum just assume it will be Remain this time. What will they do if it is Leave again? In the national interest MPs and the government should just revoke article 50. This is not a question for the people (take this thread as an example).

The vote in 2016 was necessary because there is a federal Europe with its own army

This Australian journalist is also bored of brexit and has written an article about it. https://www.politico.eu/article/brexit-britain-small-boring-and-stupid-theresa-may-eu-withdrawal-deal/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

The parallels with Greece are uncanny, so if we take Greece 2015 as a guide it is likely that the UK will reject the deal it currently has negotiated only to have to accept a worse deal at the last moment in March/April 2019.

I understand you get most of your information from reading The Daily Telegraph. The Europe editor for The Telegraph, Peter Foster, is one of the best (informed) journalists out there; I cannot recommend enough that you read his articles. For the record: if the UK remains, it will never have to join the EUR as it will remain on current terms with its opt-outs. If the UK rejoins at a later stage, technically there is an obligation to eventually adopt the EUR. However it is still a sovereign right for the member state to choose when to do this. Sweden for example meets all the EUR-criteria but chooses to keep its own currency. (by the way, a lot of economists claim UK would have benefited just as much from the EUR as Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, etc have). As for the EU army.. there is currently more military cooperation between the UK and France than there is between EU member states. Why is there no outrage of an Anglo-Frankish army? Is there fear that Macron will draft English youth to fight his battles? It is so easy to stir up fear on this issue... EU military cooperation is very limited (coordinating purchases at an EU level, etc.) and subject to a veto from every member state.

This is only an opinion by the Advocate-General, doesn't mean the Court will follow it. Thinking advisory means binding is what got the UK in this mess in the first place.

You are comparing this deal to Remain. Ofcourse it is worse than Remain. I'm saying this deal is pretty much the best she could do. Brexiteers who now say, well if this is it, I'd rather remain are a bit dim if they were expecting something else.

Curious to know why people think the deal is bad? Also, whether or not Trump is in the White House has very little impact on the trade deal which will be available to the UK. Either you align with the US regulatory model or the EU regulatory model. The current deal choses the EU model for obvious reasons.

I agree. Brexit has to go through. To stop Brexit now would put the EU's most obstructionist Member-state back in the centre of the EU, but this time with an even more divided public opinion on Europe. The best way to defeat populists is to put their idiotic ideas into effect and watch them fail. UK is very welcome to rejoin after March 29th 2019.

I am amazed at how long Macron got away with calling Trump an idiot in public (at the UN, Rememberance day, ...). Seems Trump finally snapped; will be a huge boost for Macron in France.

Corbyn and his followers will vote against it, DUP will vote against it, Johnson and his followers will vote against it, Fox will resign because he doesn't have a job if UK is in Customs Union... only question that remains is if there will be a general election or a referendum on the deal?

As soon as my kids are old enough to understand what happened, I will visit Flanders Fields with them. Incredibly important to keep remembering and honouring those that lost their lives, even though it is now 100 years ago. I read somewhere that it is 75 years now since an army last crossed the Rhine, blowing away second longest period which was 3 months.