Brexit

[LindseyMitchell]

Last year, I went on a coach trip.  We sailed from Hull to Rotterdam, and drove through Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, and finally to Germany.
I showed my passport once, on the ferry.
As far as I can see, we’ll have to rely on Trump’s America;  chlorinated chicken, hormone fed beef, GM crops;  no thank you.  I like Danish bacon, French and Italian wines, dairy foods from Holland, and meats that are EU certified as safe.  These things will carry duty, so will become a lot more expensive.
Rees Mogg actually said yesterday (I’ve seen the interview) that it would be 50 years before we had any financial benefit, by which time most brexiters will have popped their clogs.

[Scunner]

Obviously EU goods will still be available but perhaps with an import duty added.

How would they get here, what with there being no flights between Europe and the UK?

[LindseyMitchell]

Container ships, like now, Scunner, except most of Kent will be a lorry park waiting for goods to be verified and duty to be paid.
I was talking to someone in our hotel who lives in Kent, and plans for said parks are well underway.  They’ll be huge.

[Highlander]

I freely admit to not knowing much, if anything about Brexit, but can someone advise me as to what affect a "no deal" will have on the EU countries and why they would want it.

[Scunner]

Container ships, like now, Scunner

Oh I see! So all these cargo planes coming in from across Europe are empty?

[Ovacikpeedoff]

Highlander, the impact on the 27 will be serious. It will impact on some more than others. Some countries like Ireland, Denmark and The Netherlands will be hardest hit. The UK will be hit much harder because 43% of exports to go the EU. In the case of The EU as a block 9% is exported to The UK.

The greatest achievement of the EU is the single market and customs union. The supporting regulations ensure that a company can sell its goods in London, Rome, Berlin or any other country within the EU without incurring additional tariffs. Goods can be moved around the EU without the need for customs posts and checking giving unfettered access to 500 million customers. The single market not only just refers to exports and I ports but it includes all regulations and directives that are the basis of the EU.  Health and Safety,employee rights and the working hours directive are the ones that most people have heard of.  The SM and CU reduces costs and administration by applying one set of rules. When the UK leaves then Dover and other ports will become virtually gridlocked as customs checks will probably be introduced. There will be the introduction of tariffs and reams of customs documentation. Tariffs are not uniform and are determined according to the type of goods. For example cars carry a tariff of 10%. These costs will eventually passed into the consumer. Sticking with cars the costs will be higher. We live in a world of interdependence. Cars made in Sunderland are really assembled there. Parts come from all over the EU and could make several journeys back and forth. Each time that a part goes back and forth will incur a tariff. This will add to the final cost of the product. The estimated cost to business could exceed £4 billion.


The EU also regulates what can and cannot be imported into the EU. GM cereal and chlorinated chicken are just a couple of examples as mentioned earlier.

Why is the EU taking the stand that it is taking?

The EU is protecting the integrity of the single market and the customs union. If every country goes off and does its own thing then the SM and the CU are irrelevant. The EU is built on 4 freedoms. The movement of goods,services, capital and people. These freedoms underpin the SM. The UK wants to have its cake and eat it by selecting what they want and discard the rest.

There has been a discussion on aviation and there has been some made some that do not know what they are talking about. Aviation has been been the major success of the single market. The consumer has certainly benefited with lower fares and more flights. Prior to 1987 there were major restrictions on who could fly where. Flights into major airports were virtually a cartel. Prices were set by the airlines and competition non existent. The opening of the sky's by the EU changed all that. Once the UK leaves the EU then this agreement opening will no longer be valid. In Dec 2017,the European Commission wrote to all airlines stating that UK airlines would no longer enjoy traffic rights under any agreement to which the EU is  a party to. UK airlines may not be able to fly to Europe or fly between member states. Britian could have less than 9 months to negotiate a new agreement.

[Ovacikpeedoff]

On a personal note some of you may be aware that I and 3 others started a company concentrating on financial risk management. We became reasonably successful helping small financial institutions  meet their statutory obligations. Most of our customers are EU based.

We spent a great deal of time exploring what would be best for the company. We decided in the end to relocate. In March, we finally moved most of the company to Ireland. We moved to a town with a technology institute.The IDA was superb and did so much to help the company find premises etc. We now have a large pool of resource and expertise that we can draw from. We lost some staff but we retained our key employees. They appear to be happy because financially they are much better off. They have been able to buy properties at a fraction of the cost. They all spend a maximum of 30 minutes driving to work. We renegotiated their contracts to ensure that salaries were stated in Euros.

Last month, i retired from the company and sold my shares to a trust set up for the benefit of employees. I sold the shares for the amount i had invested. Eventually all the shares will finish up in the trust.

I thought it would give memory time for doing the things I never had time to do before but that is not the case.

[LindseyMitchell]

Great posts, Ovacikpeedoff.

[LindseyMitchell]

Go up and down any UK motorway, Scunner, and see how many EU artics there are.  For many firms, this is way cheaper than airlifting goods.
The flower shop near me has an articulated lorry delivering plants and flowers every week from Holland, and the owner is seriously worried.

[Scunner]

Lindsey

One question

Do you believe that after Brexit you will not be able to fly to and from the UK to EU countries?

I’m not even disputing that lots of goods arrive in the UK by road.