7 November 2016
L. Alan Winters, Professor of Economics and Director of UKTPO.
The ideal trading partner is rich, large, similar and next door. For the UK this means the EU, and for the UK government, this means trade negotiations with our European neighbours must take priority.
In my recent article for the NIESR November Review, I explore the reasons why negotiating the UK’s future trade arrangements is a massive job. These are the main points I raise. (more…)
Charlotte Humma November 7th, 2016
Posted In: UK- EU
Tags: Negotiations, WTO
19 October 2016
L. Alan Winters is Professor of Economics and Director of the UKTPO
Rule 1 for negotiation: work out what you want and how much you can pay for it.
Rule 2: try to understand where the other side is coming from and how they feel.
The muted mood this week among trade specialists in Sweden, one of the UK’s closest allies in the EU, should serve as a reality check ahead of Brexit negotiations. If we want to make Brexit work, we need to take their views seriously. (more…)
Charlotte Humma October 19th, 2016
Posted In: UK- EU
Tags: Article 50, Sweden
14 October 2016
L. Alan Winters is Professor of Economics at the University of Sussex, and director of the UK Trade Policy Observatory. Nick Jacob is an associate tutor and research student in economics – also at the University of Sussex.
Few doubt that Brexit poses some immense challenges for the British economy. But for a government that professes to want an economy that ‘works for everyone’, there is possibly one encouraging factor: Brexit seems likely to help re-balance the economy. This note asks what Brexit implies for different parts of the UK and suggests two reasons why regions outside London and the South East could be less severely challenged. (more…)
Charlotte Humma October 14th, 2016
Posted In: UK - Non EU, UK- EU
12 October 2016
Guest blog by Phil Molyneux, Dean of the College of Business, Law, Education and Social Sciences and Professor of Banking and Finance at Bangor University.
It’s not looking good in the City or anywhere within the UK financial services sector. The sector contributed £66 billion in tax revenues to the UK Exchequer in 2015 – around 11% of total income – so this is potentially a concern for all of us. (more…)
Charlotte Humma October 12th, 2016
Posted In: UK- EU
Tags: Banking, Financial Services
30 September 2016
Erika Szyszczak is Professor of Law in the School of Law, Politics and Sociology at the University of Sussex, and a member of UKTPO.
The “first 100 days” has become a standard by which to evaluate important political times. Undoubtedly, the momentous decision on 23 June 2016 to break up the current geopolitical space of Europe will be examined by historians as a decisive period of modern European history.
From a lawyer’s perspective the most striking feature of the last 100 days has been the legal uncertainty of how to implement the referendum result. This represents the challenge we love. So this blog examines some of these uncertainties. (more…)
Charlotte Humma September 30th, 2016
Posted In: UK- EU
Tags: Article 50, Legal Issues, Withdrawal process
12 September 2016
Michael Gasiorek is a Senior Lecturer in Economics, in the School of Business, Management and Economics and a member of UKTPO. He is also Managing Director of InterAnalysis, a University spin-out company focusing on trade policy.
There has been talk in the past week about a future free trade agreement (FTA) between the UK and Australia – and indeed Australia expressed interest in such an FTA soon after the Brexit referendum. For the UK government this seems to be an affirmation of the future possibilities for the UK, as and when it assumes full responsibility for trade policy post Brexit. In reality, our trade with Australia is relatively small and so the real value may be in the opportunity for the UK’s fledgling trade negotiators to get round the table with friendly faces and hammer out a low-stakes trade deal. (more…)
Charlotte Humma September 12th, 2016
Posted In: UK - Non EU
5 September 2016
In the face of severe and competing pressures, a UK trade policy that ‘works for everyone’ – to use Prime Minister Theresa May’s phrase – is going to be immensely difficult to achieve, writes Steve McGuire.
The legal and political obstacles to the UK’s construction of an independent international trade policy have been well documented. The legal complexities are eye-watering; as my UKTPO colleague Emily Lydgate points out, the relationship between Article 50 and UK trade policy is unclear. Nor does the UK government have enough expertise in the negotiation and implementation of trade rules. (more…)
Charlotte Humma September 5th, 2016
Posted In: UK - Non EU, UK- EU
Tags: Inclusivity, Lobbying, Sectoral Deals
22 August 2016
Dr Emily Lydgate is a Lecturer in Law in the School of Law, Politics and Sociology at the University of Sussex, and is a member of UKTPO
According to government sources at the weekend, the UK probably won’t trigger Article 50 until late 2017. At this point, it is crucial the EU and UK begin negotiating their new trade agreement. Delaying until after Brexit and relying on WTO rules in the meantime would cost the UK billions – in the best case scenario.
The worst case would see trade conflicts erupting and negotiations with the rest of the world in indefinite limbo. (more…)
Charlotte Humma August 22nd, 2016
Posted In: UK- EU
Tags: Article 50, Legal Issues, WTO
11 August 2016
Erika Szyszczak is Professor of Law in the School of Law, Politics and Sociology at the University of Sussex, and a member of UKTPO.
This post sets out some of the legal issues arising after the referendum of 23 June 2016, taking a generous liberty with the interpretation of the lyrics of The Eagles’ song “Hotel California”.
Charlotte Humma August 11th, 2016
Posted In: UK - Non EU, UK- EU
Tags: Article 50, Legal Issues, USA
29 July 2016
Professor L. Alan Winters, Professor Jim Rollo and Dr Peter Holmes are all members of UKTPO
Liam Fox MP, the President of the Board of Trade, is reported as saying that the UK should leave the EU Customs Union so as to give it the freedom to negotiate Free Trade Areas (FTAs) with other countries.
This would be an unexceptionable step after full Brexit but a provocative, and very probably costly, one before Brexit. (more…)
Charlotte Humma July 29th, 2016
Posted In: UK- EU
Tags: Article 50, Customs Union, FTA, Single Market, WTO
