The year 2022 will be a particularly important year for Europe given a particularly busy political agenda for one of its founding states and the continent’s second largest economy: France.
There is considerable speculation that the United Kingdom government will trigger Article 16 of the Northern Ireland protocol during the week of November 15th starting a potentially serious crisis in trade relationships between the UK and the EU.
Anyone with experience of trade deals will tell you that the biggest challenge is not removing tariffs but removing the regulatory barriers to trade.
The Financial Services sector has been urging the UK and EU to quickly come to an agreement, with a memorandum of understanding said to be expected in March. While equivalence remains a pipe dream for the UK, both sides have pressed on with their own agenda aimed at reshaping the European fund industry.
This week, the Government published its long-awaited response to the consultation on proposals to establish ten Freeports across the UK. The initiative is identified as a strategic priority as ministers seek to kickstart the UK’s economic recovery, and deliver on its stated ambition of ‘levelling up’ towns, cities and regions considered to have been left behind.
The response from industry, based on our discussions with business leaders over recent days, has been overwhelmingly positive. The consensus is that the Government’s thinking now goes far beyond what was originally conceived – constituting a comprehensive and holistic approach with the potential to make serious waves.
In a world dominated by Covid-19, it is easy to forget about the once ubiquitous topic of Brexit.
This political timeline is indicative of the political situation today; it is subject to change. It sets out the process for negotiating the terms of the UK’s exit from the EU.
After Brexit, our attention to UK trade policy has focused mostly on future FTAs, and in particular trade negotiations between the UK and the EU. But another front has quietly been opened.
Hume Brophy today announces the appointment of former Special Advisor to Tánaiste Simon Coveney TD, Caitríona Fitzpatrick, as Senior Account Director in its Public Affairs Team.
