Tag: Brexit

UK PM Johnson Promotes Brexit Negotiator Frost to Cabinet Minister

LONDON—Prime Minister Boris Johnson has given David Frost, the man who led Britain’s Brexit negotiations, a job in his top team of ministers to advise on relations with the European Union, the prime minister’s office said on Wednesday. The surprise move puts one of Johnson’s most trusted allies, a eurosceptic former diplomat and champion of…


More ‘Brexit’ Companies Shift to the Netherlands as Uncertainty Persists

AMSTERDAM—The flow of businesses moving to the Netherlands because of Brexit remained strong in 2020, even though foreign investment fell by a quarter as the coronavirus pandemic hit, the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency said on Thursday. Amsterdam has attracted companies in trading and finance, medicine and agriculture, as well as logistics and distribution looking to…


EU’s Barnier: UK Must Accept What Brexit Means, Deal on Northern Ireland

BRUSSELS—The European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator said Britain must accept the realities of Brexit and it was the UK’s exit from the EU that had caused tensions between London and Brussels over Northern Ireland, not the divorce protocol. Britain has been seeking changes to the Northern Ireland protocol of the Brexit deal after the European…


Nearly Half of UK Exporters Report Difficulties in Post-Brexit Goods Trade

Nearly half of all British exporters are facing difficulties in the trade of goods following the UK’s exit from the EU single market on Jan. 1, according to a survey by a leading UK business group. Some 49 percent of UK exporters who responded to the survey conducted by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said they…


EU Top Official Regrets ‘Mistakes’ Over Vaccine Export Gaffe

BRUSSELS—The European Union’s top official expressed regret for creating a row with Britain last month when the bloc briefly considered applying an emergency restriction on exports of COVID-19 vaccines also to the UK’s Northern Ireland. Amid a dispute with Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca, the EU introduced tighter rules on exports of COVID-19 vaccines that could hit…


Exports From UK to EU Down 68 Percent Since Brexit Trade Deal, Say Hauliers

LONDON—Exports from Britain to the European Union fell by 68 percent in January as trade was disrupted after the end of a transition period following Britain’s departure from the European Union, according to a trade body representing hauliers. The government did not confirm the data and said disruption at the border had been minimal since…


Britain Set to Apply to Join Asia-Pacific Free Trade Pact

The UK will make a formal request to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the government has said. Britain’s International Trade Secretary Liz Truss will speak to ministers in Japan and New Zealand on Monday morning to request to join the free trade pact, with formal negotiations set to start this year, the…


First Flashes of Brexit Trade Trouble Appear in UK Data

LONDON—Early signs of disruption caused by Britain’s shift to its new, less open trading relationship with the European Union are emerging in economic data. Although the biggest problem for many companies remains the COVID-19 pandemic, details of recent surveys show that Brexit is adding to the strain on the economy. Manufacturers and services firms have…


EU Wants Full Recognition for UK Envoy in Post-Brexit Spat

BRUSSELS—The European Union called Monday on the United Kingdom to grant the EU’s first-ever ambassador to the country full diplomatic status after the government in London declined to accord him those rights, but gave no clear signal that it would take retaliatory action. In a post-Brexit spat, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government is refusing to…


Britain Resists Giving EU Diplomats Full Status, Sparking Row

LONDON—Britain is resisting an EU demand that it grant full diplomatic status to the bloc’s ambassador in London, causing a row between the recently divorced parties that spilled out into the open on Thursday. Britain, an EU member for 46 years, voted to quit in 2016 and completed its tortuous journey out of the bloc…