Gang of 27 Hits UK with Impossible Demands: EU Seeks “Inferior” Deal for UK, Spain Wants Gibraltar, by Mish Shedlock.
A gang of 27 EU nations hit the UK with a parade of impossible demands. … For its part, the gang of 27 believe the UK has an impossible demand on immigration control that they cannot accept. If neither side gives, and that is increasingly likely, a hard Brexit looms, very hard.
Gang of 27 Demands
- Four freedoms or no freedoms [goods, capital, services, persons]. The main sticking point is immigration.
- Pay to play. The EU wants money for access.
- Spain wants joint sovereignty over Gibraltar.
UK Demand
- Immigration Restrictions
The EU is hypocritical about its non-people freedoms:
- Greece is still under capital controls. Cyprus was under capital controls from 2013 to 2015.
- Services? French rules on nearly everything. Businesses cannot fire workers, move elsewhere, shut plants, etc.
- Goods cannot move freely already, e.g. French Farmers Dump 90,000 Bottles Worth of Spanish Wine Because…Spanish!
A hard Brexit looms because a deal won’t be made:
Every nation listed demands. Spain has an atypical requirement: Acting Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Garcia-Margallo said this month that he aims to win joint sovereignty over Gibraltar as part of the Brexit negotiations. …
My favorite ccomment came from Malta. Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat wants a “balanced and just” Brexit but one that is “inferior” for the UK.
Essentially, the EU is telling the UK, “you cannot leave”. However, the UK already made the decision.
The threat of a tit-for-tat trade collapse is already extremely high. A demand for inferior deal for the UK will seal the fate, because the UK won’t accept the deal.
