Facts4EU.com

Author: wordpressence

  • “THE EU DEAL UNMASKED: Twelve Reasons Why the UK Will Fail to Get a Canada-Style Deal”

    Another devastating indictment of the EU’s negotiating position with the UK is published

    © Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2020

    New think tank paper advocates repudiation of Withdrawal Treaty or no deal possible

    Boris Johnson’s hope of securing a Canada-style free trade deal with the EU are set to be dashed, according to a detailed analysis of the UK-EU negotiations that are supposed to be completed by Thursday this coming week (15 Oct 2020).

    The paper concludes that in a dozen key areas the UK is worryingly on track to strike an agreement with Brussels that falls far short of the CETA deal that the EU reached with Canada just four years ago. (Still not ratified by EU member state governments.)

    The major stumbling block is that the UK has already agreed a Withdrawal Agreement and an associated Northern Ireland Protocol with the EU that makes it near impossible for it now to achieve a future relationship on a par with the freedoms and normal trade terms granted in the Canadian deal.

    This Withdrawal Agreement and subsequent Treaty must therefore now be nullified.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

    The paper outlines the 12 reasons we may never fully take back take back control
    Click to enlarge

    © The Centre for Brexit Policy 2020 – click to enlarge

    Former Conservative Leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, and one of the paper’s authors, commented:

    “A genuine Canada-style deal for the UK would be a great result. This paper goes through the fine print to demonstrate that we are on the brink of signing up to the kind of deal a colony of the EU would be ashamed of.”

    Readers can download the full (18 page) paper here and we recommend it, as it expands on the points made in the summary above.

    Observations

    This paper from the CBP is focused on the impossibility of the UK achieving a Canada-style free trade agreement with the EU. After nearly 50 years of membership of the EEC/EU this is the absolute minimum that the UK deserves from the EU.

    As readers know, the EU refuses to offer any such deal and the current arrangements will make the UK into a colony of the EU, subject to its ECJ rulings and many other ‘slave state’ conditions, for decades to come. The only reasonable conclusion to draw and action to take is to repudiate the Withdrawal Treaty on the grounds that the EU has never acted in good faith during the past four years.

    At Brexit Facts4EU.Org this has always been our position from the moment the first draft of the Withdrawal Agreement (WA) was published by Theresa May’s Government. We slammed it then, and were the first media outlet to do so.

    The revision to the Northern Ireland Protocol achieved by Boris Johnson late last year was nowhere near enough to make the WA acceptable to any country professing to want to “take back control” and to be free, sovereign, and independent. In September 2019 we published a warning one-pager for Boris Johnson. On 18 October 2019, the day after publication of his amended WA, we published a simple 10-point one-pager, entitled “Forget politics, is Boris’s new EU treaty Brexit? No, it’s not.”

    Since the appointment of Lord Frost as the UK’s Chief Negotiator we have welcomed the robustness of the UK Government’s approach to Brussels. Now is the time to repudiate the abomination that is the Withdrawal Treaty.

    The EU will clearly not accept that the UK voted to leave the EU in order to become and independent country.

    So be it.

    We continue to lobby for the following:-

    1. Repudiate the Withdrawal Treaty (including the Northern Ireland Protocol) on the grounds that the EU has acted in bad faith during the entirety of the negotiations, and
    2. Stand firm and refuse to compromise on any trade deal involving a watering down of the UK’s sovereignty and independence of action, and
    3. Start communicating effectively to the British public and to the rest of the world

    To all MPs who read our work, as the most prolific researcher and publisher of Brexit facts in the world we stand ready to assist in any way for the achievement of the above objectives.

    Finally, and to all members of the public reading this, please help us to keep going in these critical times. We don’t have foreign billionaires funding our work, (like some Remain campaigns), we rely on public donations. These all go to keeping us working seven days a week as we have done for almost five years. Please make a quick, secure, and confidential donation using one of the links below this article. You will receive a warm and friendly email from a member of our team. Thank you very much.

    [ Sources: The CBP | Previous publications by Brexit Facts4EU.Org ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Sun 11 Oct 2020

    Click here to go to our news headlines

    Please scroll down to COMMENT on the above article.
    And don’t forget to actually post your message after you have previewed it!

    Share this article on

    Since before the EU Referendum, Brexit Facts4EU.Org
    has been the most prolific researcher and publisher of Brexit facts in the world.

    Supported by MPs, MEPs, & other groups, our work has impact.

    We think facts matter.
    Please donate today, so that we can continue to ensure a clean Brexit is finally delivered.

    Any credit card user

    Donate

    Subscribe

    Paypal Users Only – Choose amount first

  • Republic of Ireland threatens ‘seamless’ N.I. border, with permanent Armed Support Unit

    The Irish deploy armed police permanently to Northern Ireland border area

    © Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2020

    Where is the EU on this hardening of the border by the Irish, unconnected with Brexit?

    One of the three red line issues which the EU has used to prevent a rational and reasonable Withdrawal Agreement and trade deal with the United Kingdom has been the border between Northern Ireland (part of the UK) and the Republic of Ireland. The EU has claimed constantly that it respects the Good Friday Agreement and accuses the UK of jeopardising it.

    We can now reveal that the Republic of Ireland has been increasing its armed presence in the border area between the Republic and Northern Ireland for the last year. This has culminated in the deployment of a crack group of some 25 armed Irish Gardai officers to patrol the border with Fermanagh.

    This all began in September last year (2019) – long before the UK-EU trade talks even started. In September of this year (2020) Garda Commissioner Drew Harris told members of Cavan’s Joint Policing Committee that work was almost finished on a new base for the unit, which is to become permanent. According to local media sources there will be five sergeants and up to 25 officers permanently assigned to the base, patrolling the border around Fermanagh.

    © The Gardai

    This is now an armed border again, and not an invisible one

    In view of the sensitivity of all discussions relating to the status of Northern Ireland, the Irish Republic, and the citizens of both countries, we wish to make it clear that there are at present no permanent physical barriers at the border itself.

    Nevertheless, the presence of so many armed police from the Republic patrolling the border in the Fermanagh area cannot be said to contribute to a frictionless line between the Republic and Northern Ireland. If citizens of each country are subject to being stopped on a regular basis, then this is hardly seamless.

    We must stress that this measure by the Gardai is unrelated to Brexit, and unrelated to the Coronavirus.

    In addition to the above, the Irish police announced on 26 September 2020 that they would forthwith be operating “rolling cross-border checkpoints” in an effort to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

    Where are the EU on this? Where are the howls of outrage from Brussels?

    At no time has the United Kingdom proposed any similar move of a permanent armed police unit that would ‘harden’ the border. The UK has also said that it will not introduce any hard border as a result of Brexit.

    So far there has not been one word from the EU about the new permanent armed border presence by the Republic of Ireland.

    The border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland has always been the No.1 ‘red line’ which the EU has used to punish the UK – both in the Withdrawal Agreement and in the subsequent trade negotiations. The EU Commission, EU Parliament, and EU Council has used it to paralyse the prospect of any reasonable agreement between the EU27 and the United Kingdom, and has in effect weaponised what was a very long, painful, and sensitive peace process on the island of Ireland.

    We look forward to a very prompt statement from the EU Commission about the Irish Republic’s actions.

    The truth about the EU’s fictitious Northern Ireland issue

    Newer readers – either members of the public or MPs – may wish to read our now-famous one-pager on the Irish question. We were able to secure the endorsements of eight other Brexit organisations for this work.

    It summarises “Why the Irish Border is No Barrier to a Brexit Deal” and is full of facts. We recommend it to everyone.

    Right: Click on the image to download our one-page PDF.

    Observations

    The border issue was always first and foremost about the free movement of people. There has always been a border between the UK and the Republic of Ireland because of the different VAT rates, personal tax rates, corporation tax, fuel rates, national laws, and many other things.

    If the Irish Gardai are deploying a permanent and significant armed presence to the border, with the reasons having nothing to do with Brexit, this means stopping and checking people. And it’s an EU member state – the Republic of Ireland – that is doing this.

    If the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement is not being broken by the introduction of a permanent armed Irish police unit then how can the absence of British customs checks on the Irish Border constitute a threat to the Agreement?

    The truth can only be that there is no proposed breach of the Belfast (Good Friday) agreement by the United Kingdom in the event of no (free trade) deal with the EU – or that if there is a breach it is being made by the Irish Government.

    The hypocrisy and duplicity of the EU

    Naturally we are not commenting on the need for an armed police presence in response to public need. What we are highlighting is that the actions of the Republic are contributing to an inevitable ‘hardening’ of the border – something about which the EU has always taken a holier than thou attitude.

    The EU played virtually no part in the Northern Ireland peace process, even though it sometimes tries to make it sound as if it is the guarantor of (relative) peace there. Aside from the governments of the UK and RoI and the leaders of the respective political parties in Northern Ireland, it was Senator George Mitchell and the US which played a pivotal role, not the EU.

    The court of world opinion

    It is our opinion that most international politicians and commentators – if they were told the facts – would support the United Kingdom over the Northern Ireland issue. It just takes the Government to start communicating properly about such matters.

    This is one of the reasons that we sent two of our most recent reports to President Trump, Vice-President Pence, Presidential candidate Senator Joe Biden, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. You can read them here and here.

    Please help us to keep up the fight by making a donation today. We rely 100% on public donations and we must stay in this fight for another few months. Quick, secure, and confidential donation links are below this article, and you will receive a warm and friendly email from a member of our team. Thank you so much.

    [ Sources: A confidential source from N.I. | Northern Sound | Fermanagh Herald ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Sat Oct 2020

    Click here to go to our news headlines

    Please scroll down to COMMENT on the above article.
    And don’t forget to actually post your message after you have previewed it!

    Share this article on

    Since before the EU Referendum, Brexit Facts4EU.Org
    has been the most prolific researcher and publisher of Brexit facts in the world.

    Supported by MPs, MEPs, & other groups, our work has impact.

    We think facts matter.
    Please donate today, so that we can continue to ensure a clean Brexit is finally delivered.

    Any credit card user

    Donate

    Subscribe

    Paypal Users Only – Choose amount first

  • Brussels latest: EU’s youth indoctrination project will be complete by 2025

    Should the UK continue paying for the ‘Juncker Youth’ and other programmes from Brussels for Generation Z?

    © Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2020

    The 88% of UK lecturers who voted Remain will no doubt continue their plans for the UK’s youth

    Last week the EU Commission announced that it will be completing a “European Education Area” by 2025, thereby moving one further step towards the homogenisation of the formerly independent nation states of Europe.

    For years the EU has been achieving its goal is by targeting young people with continuous propaganda and ‘initiatives’ as we have reported many times before. Here is what they say about their latest move:-

    “The European Education Area is underpinned by six dimensions: quality, inclusion and gender equality, green and digital transitions, teachers, higher education, a stronger Europe in the world. Initiatives will inter alia look at ways to enhance quality, notably with regard to basic and digital skills and to make school education more inclusive and gender sensitive and improve school success. They will help strengthen understanding of climate change and sustainability, foster the greening of education infrastructure, support the teaching profession, further roll out European Universities and enhance connectivity among education and training institutions.

    “The Communication sets out the means and milestones to achieve the European Education Area by 2025, supported by Europe’s Recovery Plan (NextGenerationEU) and the Erasmus+ Programme.”

    What does this mean?

    Worryingly, post-Brexit the Government of Boris Johnson still seems determined to continue paying into the EU’s self-serving and wasteful ‘Erasmus+’ programme. If the Government is trying to appeal to the youth vote, there are much better and more efficient ways to achieve this.

    An important part of educating young people is by imparting facts, to inform and hone their decision-making processes. However, when the majority of the teaching profession is anti-Brexit and ‘woke’, there could be a problem.

    Brexit Facts4EU.org Summary

    • 75% of secondary school teachers backed Remain
    • Nearly 90% of university lecturers backed Remain

    © Brexit Facts4EU.Org – click the chart to enlarge

    Above is how the teaching profession voted in the EU Referendum, according to the Times Educational Supplement survey at the time.

    Here are some facts which teachers/lecturers may not have told their pupils/students

    Only 0.5% of UK higher education students use the EU’s ‘Erasmus+’ study programme.

    • 99.5% of UK students do NOT use it
    • Less than 10,000 higher education students study in the EU27, out of 1.84 million [EU / Universities UK data]
    • Pro-rata, staff use it three times more than students
    • Erasmus+ does NOT require EU Membership. Iceland, Norway, Turkey, Serbia, Liechtenstein and North Macedonia are all part of Erasmus, but are not in the EU.

    Click chart to enlarge – © Brexit Facts4EU.Org

    One example of the build-up of the ‘European Education Area’, which the UK has been paying for

    One part of the ‘European Education Area’ is called the ‘European Solidarity Corps’. Given that it was founded under the reign of the previous President of the EU Commission, we have always referred to this as the ‘Juncker Youth’. It started in 2016 but the EU’s legislation didn’t follow until two years later. Here is what the EU says about it:-

    “The young people who participate in the European Solidarity Corps will all agree with and uphold its Mission and Principles.”

    “The European Solidarity Corps was first set up by mobilising available EU funding from different programmes, including Erasmus+. The regulation that established the European Solidarity Corps (adopted 2 October 2018) made it a as a stand-alone programme that now benefits from its own budget. With a budget of €375.6 million for 2018-2020, it offers opportunities to young people to carry out volunteering activities, traineeships and jobs and run their own solidarity projects.”

    This law gives legal effect and a large budget to a programme of activities for young people prepared to commit to a ‘solidarity’ pledge to the EU. The planned budget for the period starting 2021 has been put at over €1 billion.

    Here is the opening paragraph of the EU’s law:

    “Solidarity among Union citizens and among Member States is one of the universal values on which the Union is built. This common value guides the Union’s actions and provides it with the necessary unity for coping with current and future societal challenges, which young Europeans are willing to help address by expressing their solidarity in practice. Solidarity also stimulates young people’s interest in the common European project.”

    – Regulation (EU) 2018/1475 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Oct 2018

    Note that the opening paragraph of the new law starts with the overriding reason for the ‘Juncker Youth’ – to get young people expressing ‘solidarity’ and ‘unity’ with the unelected EU Commission’s self-declared ideals.

    Very few young people have actually participated in a project

    According to the EU Commission, whilst 175,000 registered their interest in the European Solidarity Corps, only 30,000 young people have actually gone ahead and particpated in an activity.

    There are 86,531,328 young people aged 15-29 in the EU. The proportion of these participating in the Solidarity Corps is just 0.035%.

    What are these small number of young people doing that is costing so much money?

    Below are some examples from the EU’s own literature:-

    “Charlotte Dumoulin from Belgium is volunteering in Helsinki, Finland in an organisation promoting peace, equality, anti-racism and dialogue. Charlotte is working with youth workers to help them overcome their prejudices in their work.”

    “Vladislavs Jelisejevs from Latvia worked in Dumbravita, Romania in the project ‘European Diversity in Human Unity’ in which he focussed on delivering non-formal education to students of all ages, in and around the city of Baia Mare.”

    Right: Solidarity Corps volunteer supporting migrants in Italy

    – EU factsheet, Sept 2018


    Copyright EU Commission

    Observations

    For years we have been deeply troubled about the standards of education and the indoctrination of our youth by educators whose political opinions do not reflect the views of the majority of the population.

    In particular we have been worried by the EU’s insidious and ever-growing initiatives to brainwash an entire generation into believing its propaganda. With Brexit, we expected that at least the EU’s efforts in this regard would no longer be supported by UK taxpayers’ money. If the Government of Mr Johnson participates in any way in the EU’s youth propaganda machine, and continues to fund it, we shall have a great deal to say on the matter.

    One week to go…?

    Boris Johnson set a new deadline of 15 October 2020 for the conclusion of the UK-EU trade talks, which bizarrely include items such as the UK’s participation in – and payment for – various EU programmes such as those outlined above. Readers will recall that Mr Johnson’s original deadline was back in June.

    As with all other Brexit ‘deadlines’ it seems that this one will also be extended. No.10 is now only talking of having the ‘essence of the deal’ agreed by the 15th, which is in one week’s time.

    We suggest it would set a powerful marker if the PM walks away from the negotiations on Thursday next week, assuming the EU has failed to back down from its ridiculous demands. None of these demands exist in any other trade deal which the EU has struck, and no self-respecting independent country around the world would accept them.

    We repeat our advice to the Government:-

    1. Repudiate the Withdrawal Treaty (including the Northern Ireland Protocol) now, on the grounds that the EU has acted in bad faith during the entirety of the negotiations, and
    2. Stand firm and refuse to compromise on any trade deal involving a watering down of the UK’s sovereignty and independence of action, and
    3. Start communicating effectively to the British public and to the rest of the world

    And let’s please not have any nonsense about staying in (and paying for) the EU’s youth propaganda programmes. Far more UK students go to the USA as part of their studies than to any EU country.

    Our young people will always be independent and will vote with their feet, as they have done for decades. Let’s not waste anything more on the EU. Students were able to study in Europe before the EU started trying to control everything. We are sure that ways will be found for this to continue, but this should not involve signing up to the EU’s profligate schemes of self-promotion.

    In these final days and weeks before the UK exits the European Union, the team at Brexit Facts4EU.Org has a great deal to do. Please support our work with a donation today. We have no foreign billionaires backing us, just you, dear readers. These are critical times and we could do so much more if we had more funding. Unlike the eurocrats in Brussels we have no secretaries, limos, or expense accounts. We just need some money to survive.

    Quick, secure, and confidential donation methods are below, and you will receive a warm email from a member of our team if you can help us. Thank you so much.

    [ Sources: EU Commission | Times Educational Supplement | Universities UK | HESA ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Thur 08 Oct 2020

    Click here to go to our news headlines

    Please scroll down to COMMENT on the above article.
    And don’t forget to actually post your message after you have previewed it!

    #

    Share this article on

    Since before the EU Referendum, Brexit Facts4EU.Org
    has been the most prolific researcher and publisher of Brexit facts in the world.

    Supported by MPs, MEPs, & other groups, our work has impact.

    We think facts matter.
    Please donate today, so that we can continue to ensure a clean Brexit is finally delivered.

    Any credit card user

    Donate

    Subscribe

    Paypal Users Only – Choose amount first

  • Exclusive: 99.3% of all UK businesses do NOT export to the EU

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org reveals what the Establishment’s Remainers don’t want you to know

    © Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2020

    Project Fear’s continuing doom-and-gloom about a ‘no deal’ Brexit is debunked

    Facts4EU.Org has researched and analysed the official HMRC and Government data on all the businesses in the UK, to see just how many of these businesses will be affected if the EU continues to fail to negotiate reasonably and the UK then exits the EU on 31 December on WTO terms.

    Many readers – including those who voted Remain in 2016 – may find the following information to be shocking.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

    From official Government and HMRC figures for 2019

    • 99.3% of all UK businesses do NOT export goods to the EU
    • Even after excluding sole traders, the picture is similar
    • 97.2% of the UK’s 1.4 million employers do NOT export goods to the EU
    • Just 39,000 UK employers export goods to the EU
    • That’s only 2.8% of all employers – and yet they’re dominating the EU trade deal debate
    • More than 5 million UK businesses neither import from, nor export to, the EU

    The percentage of all UK businesses exporting goods to the EU

    © Brexit Facts4EU.Org – click to enlarge

    The percentage of all UK employers (excluding sole traders) exporting goods to the EU

    © Brexit Facts4EU.Org – click to enlarge

    The Establishment’s claims are wrong – and misleading

    For years the Establishment – including the big businesses represented by the CBI and their political supporters – have sought to frame the debate about Brexit on what they claim would be the ‘cliff edge’ of an exit by the UK from the EU on ‘WTO terms’. This type of exit is what Prime Minister Boris Johnson now refers to as leaving on “Australian terms”.

    Almost all of the business information presented to the public by the BBC and other broadcasters has revolved around claims that “nearly 50% of UK exports go to the EU”. Aside from the fact that this claim is false, (the true figure is 43% according to the House of Commons Library in July 2020), the public has been given the impression that half of our business is in peril from a ‘no deal’ Brexit.

    This is not the case, as can be seen from the official figures we have uncovered.

    This is about actual UK businesses and the real people working in them

    Our investigation shows that only a tiny number of the UK’s businesses (39,000 out of a total of 5.9 million) actually sell goods to the EU27. Even stripping out all sole traders from the total number of UK businesses, this still leaves 1,409,950 employers. 39,000 is a very small proportion (2.8%) of these.

    Yes, it’s true that the UK businesses selling goods to the EU tend to be larger, and therefore tend to employ more people per business, and to export in higher volumes. Nevertheless, they are relatively small in number and will most certainly have the resources to adapt quickly to a new trading environment. It remains the case that the vast majority of UK businesses will be unaffected by any new EU export arrangements.

    There are only 19,800 businesses in the UK employing 100 people or more. This leaves 5,848,000 businesses who employ (or self-employ) the rest of us.

    So how much is the UK’s goods export business to the EU worth?

    As stated above, Remainers have always sought to frame the Brexit debate around business numbers, which is one of the reasons they lost the UK’s EU Referendum of 2016.

    Despite the fact that the Remain side continually cited export numbers, the reality is that the UK is the country which did worst out of all EU countries when it came to the Single Market and Customs Union. (This is according to the EU Commission itself – see our report here.)

    In May this year (2020) we published our research showing that the UK’s goods exports to the EU represent only 7.7% of the UK’s total economy.

    © Brexit Facts4EU.Org – click to enlarge

    Observations

    Above we have tried to put the business side of UK PLC into perspective for readers. When the CBI – which represents big business and which campaigned hard for Remain – speaks, the BBC jumps. Rarely did we hear anything from the BBC about the millions of small businesses which make up the backbone of the UK’s economy.

    In late summer 2018 we were the first Brexit organisation to back a new business group, The Alliance of British Entrepreneurs, representing the interests of businesses with billions of pounds of turnover and who backed Leave. Founded by a brilliant young business lawyer named Tom Bohills, they successfully campaigned for the Brexit business voice to be heard. Nevertheless it has always been an uphill battle to get the pro-Brexit business voice heard when the BBC, Sky News and others seem to be so obsessed with pro-Remain voices.

    The Government must stand firm and resolute

    In the coming days and weeks we believe that the UK Government will attempt to strike some form of compromise deal with the European Union.

    Instead we urge them to do three things immediately:

    1. Repudiate the Withdrawal Treaty (including the Northern Ireland Protocol) on the grounds that the EU has acted in bad faith during the entirety of the negotiations, and
    2. Stand firm and refuse to compromise on any trade deal involving a watering down of the UK’s sovereignty and independence of action, and
    3. Start communicating effectively to the British public and to the rest of the world

    To all MPs who read our work, we stand ready to assist in any way for the achievement of the above objectives.

    Finally, where is the BBC on the information we have provided above? These are raw, basic facts. As the most prolific researcher and publisher of Brexit facts for almost five years, we urge any BBC journalist to contact us if they would like to report a more balanced view of the background to the UK-EU trade negotiations.

    As we won’t be holding our breath, perhaps readers might like to consider supporting us with a donation today? Quick, secure, and confidential donation links are below this article. We desperately need your help to continue the fight for a free, independent, and sovereign United Kingdom on 01 Jan 2021.

    [ Sources: HMRC | BEIS (UK Dept for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy) ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Tues 06 Oct 2020

    Click here to go to our news headlines

    Please scroll down to COMMENT on the above article.
    And don’t forget to actually post your message after you have previewed it!

    Share this article on

    Since before the EU Referendum, Brexit Facts4EU.Org
    has been the most prolific researcher and publisher of Brexit facts in the world.

    Supported by MPs, MEPs, & other groups, our work has impact.

    We think facts matter.
    Please donate today, so that we can continue to ensure a clean Brexit is finally delivered.

    Any credit card user

    Donate

    Subscribe

    Paypal Users Only – Choose amount first

  • Germany can’t allow “no deal” to take place, says renowned EU trade expert

    Former MEP and experienced EU trade specialist, David Campbell Bannerman, gives his thoughts on the state of play and the possible outcome of the UK-EU trade negotations, exclusively for Facts4EU.Org readers.

    More than two years ago in July 2018, Facts4EU.Org researched and published two major articles (here and here) on the SuperCanada option for a trade deal between the UK and the EU. Today we bring readers an update from SuperCanada’s originator, David Campbell Bannerman, in the light of recent developments.

    “Once the three hold ups are removed
    we can still get a big SuperCanada deal with the EU”

    By David Campbell Bannerman

    (Former MEP for East of England 2009-19 who served on the International Trade Committee of the European Parliament and now a strategic consultant on trade)

    The news from Brussels is more positive from multiple reports on a deal on the new partnership between the UK and EU, incorporating a comprehensive Canada style trade deal I have long called for as ‘SuperCanada’. There is a new ‘buzz’ and ‘improved atmosphere’, it seems, and they are finally looking at a draft written deal.

    EU serial offenders when it comes to State Aid include Germany, France and Italy

    I am not so surprised, as I really cannot see the Germans under Merkel, who hold the Presidency of the EU just now, nor the German President of the European Commission, Ursula Von Der Leyen, allowing a ‘no deal’ to take place on their watch – not when German exports represent almost a quarter of all EU exports to the UK, and when a £95 billion EU goods surplus is at stake with the UK and German manufacturing jobs are already being lost due to Covid.

    It is worth remembering that Mr Barnier might be the Chief Negotiator but is not all powerful – indeed he has to negotiate within the aims and framework set by the EU Council of national leaders, much of which have been unrealistic and ill considered, but which has tied his hands. Those bonds are now loosening. The idea of ‘parallelism’ for example – that of refusing to negotiate all other aspects of the deal until the main sticking points are resolved – has not been at all effective or helpful, and has been dropped.

    We are not yet in deadline crisis mode

    I think the timeline to watch now is less 15th October, which is what Boris Johnson quite rightly set as a deadline for a deal or to prepare full on for no deal, and more the deadline of mid-December in the European Parliament in Strasbourg, where it is essential MEPs vote through the deal for it to be enacted by the end of the year. That means November for the EU Council to agree the deal, possibly in an emergency meeting, or their timetabled 10/11th December meeting, allowing some weeks more to negotiate a deal. In EU terms, we are not even in deadline crisis mode yet.

    The sticking points to a deal are well rehearsed

    The sticking points to a deal are well rehearsed but essentially are:

    1.) Fishing Agreement – The UK has offered consistently right from the start a fishing agreement and to be free of the EU’s disastrous Common Fisheries Policy (CFP). One that recognises our national sovereignty and international rights under the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) – which confirms territorial waters of 12 miles off the coast and Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of up to 200 miles.

    Taking a practical approach, the UK will not be able to rebuild its highly damaged fishing industry overnight – new boats need building, apprentices trained, port facilities restored, new fishing businesses established. So, I have suggested a ‘tapered approach’, where we regain fishing quota rights over time, but starting with a doubling of what we have today. Norway, Iceland and the Falklands Islands all have successful fishing agreements we can emulate, and the recent UK-Norway fishing agreement has annual negotiations on the share of fish catches.

    The Guardian is reporting a ‘phase down period’ is being offered 2021-24 for catches from EU fishermen, which seems eminently sensible, if correct. So, we won’t decimate EU fisheries overnight and have to fight a series of Cod Wars (which we lost against Iceland incidentally when we had things called warships) or tedious Channel blockades. We can also set the terms – no pulse fishing or supertrawlers, for example, which I would support a ban on.

    The Daily Express reports Macron as being slapped down by the EU on extreme demands to keep the UK in the CFP and to treat our waters as theirs still.

    A fund to ensure a smooth transition is also a welcome sign – the EU has a multitude of handout programmes to help fund industrial change and job losses, why not for an EU fishing industry over reliant on fishing in British waters that will no longer be a ‘Common Resource’ – meaning in the ownership of – the EU after 1st January 2021?

    2.) The so-called ‘Level Playing Field’ terms – more to do with ‘Keeping Britain down’ and stopping us become what Katja Adler reported as being ‘supercompetitive’. The EU fears competition from a low tax, lower regulated, more open and free trading neighbour, and has sought to entrap us in an economic and regulatory straightjacket. We are right to resist and reject putting it on.

    Much relates curiously around ‘State Aid’ rules – meaning Government subsidies for key industries or sectors.

    Curious because leading EU countries are serial offenders when it comes to State Aid, including Germany, which now outstrips France and Italy as big offenders in ECJ cases.

    We should be clear that there are two sets of State Aid rules – WTO rules, the sort that triggered a massive long-term Boeing versus Airbus clash leading to a record $8 billion of countervailing ‘punishment fine’ tariffs on EU goods by the USA – including unfortunately on Scotch whisky, UK textiles and cars. Then there are EU State Aid rules which are far more prescriptive and less trade focused. We are content with the former but dislike, and reject, the latter. If WTO is the basis to a simple rules base, as hinted at, then that is progress.

    But we need to avoid the kind of workers’ rights and social diktats, environmental and Sustainable Development controls that the EU often hijacks trade deals with when they may be important but are not about creating jobs and boosting the economy.

    I have proposed what is in most other EU trade deals which is a Regulatory Cooperation Forum (or Council) which manages the impact of new regulations or deregulation and their impact on the overall deal. So disputes on regulation can be handled day to day and not need the current rigid ‘take or leave it’ EU approach.

    3.) The Dispute Settlement or ‘governance’ issue – As for dispute settlement, a great deal rests on who governs this and how disputes over the way the deal is enacted take place are resolved. The US-EU Free Trade Agreement TTIP floundered over this issue; as there were fears rulings could undermine the NHS and force US corporations on the EU market.

    The WTO has an ‘Appellate body’, a sort of court. The EU has its own court – the European Court of Justice (ECJ or CJEU), but this is a political court which is primarily concerned at driving further European integration. Switzerland has been reluctantly forced to accept ECJ judgements on its bilateral agreements. It is like having a 12th man on the competing team wearing their strip, but being called the referee!

    There is, as ever, a way forward based on plenty of precedent: that is of the EU-Canada deal, CETA. This has an arbitration system called the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism, a novel cross between a court and arbitration tribunal in a ‘CETA Tribunal’ appointed by the Joint Committee for 5-year terms. Most importantly, the ECJ has found this to be compatible with EU law and workable in Opinion 1/17 of 30th April 2019, even though the ECJ is not given ultimate power.

    The way forward is based on plenty of precedence

    With these three items solved – whilst comparatively minor technical points, yet of apparent major political consequence – then the rest of the deal is pretty non-controversial.

    Much of the new deal is already written – it’s ‘SuperCanada’.

    What is needed is not a pure ‘cut and paste’ or ‘off the peg’ approach, but there is little doubt that a significant amount of a new UK-EU trade deal such as SuperCanada can be lifted from the EU-Canadian deal CETA.

    After analysis, covered extensively before by Facts4EU – thank you – I concluded that only 7 major chapters out of 30 in CETA needed to be comprehensively rewritten – such as financial services – whilst 12 are near directly transferable, and 11 just tweaked. With such pressure on time, such lifting is even more important, but not just for speed – the majority of such terms in CETA are based on WTO Agreements, such as on Public Procurement, which are incorporated into EU FTAs – so this brings with it conformity to the global rules system.

    After many distractions and detours, maybe we will end up with SuperCanada after all!

    By David Campbell Bannerman, 04 October 2020

    Observations

    Back in mid-2018 we asked David Campbell Bannerman (DCB) to give our readers an ‘elevator pitch’ on SuperCanada. This is what he said:

    “Most trade in the world is done through global trade deals – free trade agreements.

    “I’m advocating for the EU-UK trade arrangements a ‘SuperCanada Deal’ which is bigger, better, wider than the Canada trade deal with the EU (called CETA) that completed last year.

    “But it would have more. It would have 100% tariff-free access and it would have services in it. So basically, it’s the best ever trade deal the EU has ever offered and it’s entirely deliverable.”

    The article by DCB above represents his personal views and he has significant experience of the EU to draw on. For 10 years he sat on the EU Parliament’s International Trade Committee and has intimate knowledge of their aims and procedures. He is a confirmed Brexiteer, which is probably why the Remainers in Conservative Central Office did not select him as a candidate to contest a seat at the 2019 General Election.

    Facts4EU has always held the view that the EU would never do any reasonable withdrawal or trade deal with the UK, because the EU is fundamentally run by ideological zealots who wish to punish the British for having the temerity to reject their federalist dream of one EU superstate run by bureaucrats in Brussels. Nevertheless we have always wished to give voice to all sides of Brexit opinion.

    When DCB advocated his SuperCanada concept we were the first to give it the prominence it deserved. It was a pragmatic proposal, based on many years of direct experience of the EU in trade negotiations. Sadly, back in 2018 we still had the disastrous Remainer Theresa May as Prime Minister, and DCB’s proposal was not taken up. We believe that many aspects of it still have considerable merit and we hope readers find Mr Campbell Bannerman’s thoughts interesting.

    If you haven’t already done so, could we ask you to donate today to keep us going in these final months of the Brexit fight? We remain the most prolific researcher and publisher of Brexit facts over the past five years and we have led many public campaigns, backed by as many as 15 other Brexit organisations, which have influenced MPs. We really would like to see this through. A fully free, independent and sovereign United Kingdom is still within our grasp. We just need your help to achieve the objective.

    [ Sources: David Campbell Bannerman – exclusive article for Facts4EU.Org ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

    Please scroll down to COMMENT on the above article.
    And don’t forget to actually post your message after you have previewed it!

  • The traditional British banger and the EU’s mash-up of food safety regulations

    With the drop in the EU’s food safety rules, are their claims to protect us just porky pies?

    © Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2020

    Forget chlorinated chicken, new EU rules mean feeding us “abscesses, pus and TB material”

    Every year around eight million pigs are slaughtered for meat in the UK. The UK also imports pork meat from other EU countries. Meat from pigs’ heads is recovered by specialised boning plants and goes into pies, sausages and other processed foods. Millions of us consume this meat many times each year.

    If the EU wants to portray itself as a responsible regulator of food safety standards, it might be thought that they would be strengthening food safety regulations in order to protect the public, not rowing back on them. Not so, according to the European Working Community for Food Inspection and Consumer Protection (EFWFC) which represents the EU’s meat inspectors.

    “Consumers are being exposed to an “avoidable risk” of disease after a reduction of official controls in food inspections of pig and poultry carcasses across the EU. Diseased meat is being eaten by consumers in the UK and EU, including pus from abscesses and tuberculosis lesions from pigs’ heads.”

    – The European Working Community for Food Inspection and Consumer Protection (EFWFC), 15 Sept 2020

    The EU has lowered its food safety requirements

    The EU introduced new measures for checking pigs entering the food chain. This reduced the requirement for checking pig meat from a thorough inspection to a visual-only inspection, and this was warned about back in 2014.

    A visual-only inspection misses underlying diseases. In the words of Ron Spellman, the Deputy Secretary of the European Working Community for Food Inspection and Consumer Protection (EFWFC) which represents EU meat inspectors:-

    “Inspectors stopped cutting lymph nodes in pigs’ heads, which are known to contain abscesses and tuberculosis lesions. Under previous systems, the pigs’ head would have been rejected for food, but now the meat is minced to make sausages and meat pies, spreading the pus from the abscesses and TB material throughout these products.”

    “I don’t think you can prove it’s safe to feed people abscesses, pus and TB material.”

    Mr Spellman is also a member of the UK’s Association of Meat Inspectors, and he has been warning about the EU’s lowering of food safety standards for many years. In June 2014 Mr Spellman told the BBC: “Last year we know that there were at least 37,000 pigs’ heads with abscesses or tuberculosis lesions in lymph nodes in the head. They won’t be cut now. There’s no way to see those little abscesses, little tuberculosis lesions, without cutting those lymph nodes.”

    Mr Spelman also speculated on the reasons for the EU’s reduction in its food safety requirements: “These changes are motivated not by science or a desire to protect the consumer but are politically motivated to give the meat industry what they want: the reductions and eventual removal of official independent meat inspection.”

    The size of the problem

    We looked at the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) report from January of this year. Here is what they said about ‘foodborne diseases’ – what most people would call ‘food poisoning’:-

    “We estimate that there were 2.4 million cases of foodborne disease in the UK in 2018, with 222,000 GP presentations and 16,400 hospital admissions.”

    – “Foodborne Disease Estimates for the United Kingdom in 2018”, FSA Report Jan 2020

    By any measure this effect on public health from ‘foodborne diseases’ is highly significant.

    So what does the EU Commission have to say about all of this?

    The EU Commission’s justification for the reduction in meat inspections is that the cutting up of pig carcasses as part of meat inspections increases the risk of harmful bacteria spreading onto meat.

    A spokesperson for the European commission said: “The European Union retains some of the highest food safety standards in the world – this is a key priority. This is why the European Food Safety Authority provides expert scientific advice and recommendations while national authorities are responsible to carry out inspections in accordance with the official controls legislation.

    “Any meat with lesions indicating an animal disease such as TB, or abscesses, or any pathological or organoleptic changes, must be considered as unfit for human consumption and not be placed on the market.”

    The meat inspectors would doubtless agree with these worthy sentiments. However the problem as they see it is that the EU has reduced its safety requirements and ordered visual-only inspections of pigs. As Mr Spellman of the European Working Community for Food Inspection and Consumer Protection says: “There’s no way to see those little abscesses, little tuberculosis lesions, without cutting those lymph nodes.”

    Observations

    The EU constantly claims to be the originator of consumers’ and workers’ rights. British Remainers still to this day make these claims, despite all evidence to the contrary. (See our one-pager on this here.)

    In the case of food safety standards above we have shown how yet again the EU claims one thing and does another.

    “You are what you eat”, as the saying goes. If that is the case then we are now worried about all the barbecued pork sausages we consumed over the summer. And we will never look at a pork pie in quite the same way again.

    Help is at hand, and it’s called Brexit

    Under the disastrous Withdrawal Agreement and its Transition Period, the UK is still bound by the EU’s rules on food safety. If we had wished to restore the previous rules where our meat inspectors could do more than a visual inspection of a pig which might be infected, we could not have done so.

    From 01 January 2021, however, we can set our own rules. Currently most EU regulations are due to be reimposed as national laws by the UK Parliament, in order to ensure some continuity. We very much hope that most of these will be amended as quickly as possible to reflect the needs and wishes of the British people.

    Some of the Facts4EU.Org team are rather partial to a traditional British banger, as well as the odd pork pie, and we look forward to the day when we can once again eat them with relish.

    If you have been affected by any of the issues from this report, we have a solution for you. Please donate a little something to us today, so that we may continue fighting for a fully free, independent, and sovereign United Kingdom as soon as possible.

    In the last five years we have been the most prolific researcher and publisher of Brexit facts in the World. We really do want to see this through to the finish, but we can only do this with help from readers like you because we have no foreign billionaires backing us. Quick and secure donation links are below, and you will receive a warm ‘thank you’ from a member of our team. Thank you so much.

    [ Sources: European Working Community for Food Inspection and Consumer Protection | European Food Safety Authority | European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control | The Association of Meat Inspectors Trust | Food Standards Authority | DEFRA | European Commission | The Guardian | The BBC | Scientists for Britain ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Sat 03 Oct 2020

    Click here to go to our news headlines

    Please scroll down to COMMENT on the above article.
    And don’t forget to actually post your message after you have previewed it!

    Share this article on

    Since before the EU Referendum, Brexit Facts4EU.Org
    has been the most prolific researcher and publisher of Brexit facts in the world.

    Supported by MPs, MEPs, & other groups, our work has impact.

    We think facts matter.
    Please donate today, so that we can continue to ensure a clean Brexit is finally delivered.

    Any credit card user

    Donate

    Subscribe

    Paypal Users Only – Choose amount first

  • STOP PRESS: Ever-hostile EU to take UK to its own EU-biased court over Withdrawal Treaty

    The REAL EU – red in tooth and claw

    We summarise once again why it’s the EU that should be facing charges

    © Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2020

    The “never-in-good-faith-for-years-EU” now claims the UK has not acted in good faith

    At 10am this morning, 01 Oct 2020, the German President of the EU Commission made a short statement in Brussels, announcing that the EU will pursue legal action against the United Kingdom. UK-EU trade talks were carrying on while the German EU Commission President made her statement

    Below we present all the available documents so far from the EU about their hostile act this morning in threatening legal action against the UK Government, without the EU ever having demonstrated good faith in their ongoing negotiations with the UK.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

    The EU Commission’s threats against the UK this morning

    But what about the EU’s bad faith?

    Facts4EU.Org have already published many reports on the EU acting in bad faith ever since the British people voted to leave the European Union.

    Here are some very recent ones, which we strongly recommend once again that the UK Government read and act upon.

    Observations

    In the words of a top EU legal expert to us this morning:

    “The EU has moved too early, before the end of transition how can the EU know if it is us or them that has failed to conclude a deal? How can debating something in a democratic parliament be a breach of a treaty? What about UN rights to self-determination? There can be no better evidence that the Withdrawal Agreement is an affront to democracy.

    “The EU move is more evidence of bad faith – using a possible but not yet actioned breach as a pretext for legal action timed for the purposes of maximum negotiating impact.”

    We concur with this barrister. The idea of the EU bringing an action against the UK for acting in bad faith is almost laughable, in our opinion. In the four plus years of negotiations with the European Union the United Kingdom has experienced almost nothing other than bad faith from the EU’s federalist zealots.

    The EU wrongly seizes the high ground again

    For years we have been trying to get the basics through to the UK Government – Mr Cameron’s, then Mrs May’s, and then Boris Johnson’s. When WILL they ever listen?

    The EU does not act rationally, nor as a friendly partner. Especially since the British people voted to leave the EU over four years ago. Does the world know this? No, they do not.

    We must now increase the pressure on the UK Government to repudiate the Withdrawal Treaty in its entirety, to explain over and again what the UK has been through with the EU, and to call the EU out as having acted in bad faith for years.

    In light of this hostile act by the EU, we very much hope that readers will wish to donate something today to keep us going in our five year, seven day a week fight to secure a fully free, independent and sovereign United Kingdom. We have no corporate backers, only the readers like you. Quick, secure and confidential donation links are below this article. Thank you so much.

    [ Sources: EU Commission ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org, 01 Oct 2020

    Click here to go to our news headlines

    Please scroll down to COMMENT on the above article.
    And don’t forget to actually post your message after you have previewed it!

    Share this article on

    Since before the EU Referendum, Brexit Facts4EU.Org
    has been the most prolific researcher and publisher of Brexit facts in the world.

    Supported by MPs, MEPs, & other groups, our work has impact.

    We think facts matter.
    Please donate today, so that we can continue to ensure a clean Brexit is finally delivered.

    Any credit card user

    Donate

    Subscribe

    Paypal Users Only – Choose amount first

  • Will the EU come bleating when they realise they’ve lost over ¼ of their sheep?

    Latest report from the EU shows importance of UK farming sector

    © Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2020

    Due to Brexit the EU has lost 23m of its sheep and 10m of its cows

    The EU’s official statistics agency (Eurostat) has published a report on livestock, effectively showing where its meat and dairy products are produced. The vast majority of the data used by Eurostat last week comes from 2015, when the UK was still a full member of the European Union, but the figures have not changed much.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org has therefore reviewed this data, reinserted the UK into the figures, and we can summarise the EU’s findings below.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

    From the EU’s livestock report dated Wed 23 Sept 2020, using latest full data 2015

    • 27% sheep in the EU28 – over one in four – were British
    • In total, 19% of all EU sheep and cattle were British
    • In 2015 the total population of EU sheep, cattle, and pigs was 323.9 million

    © Brexit Facts4EU.Org – click to enlarge

    Observations

    Do Eudroids Dream of Electric Sheep?

    With apologies to Philip K Dick, author of “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” which was later made into the highly acclaimed film ‘Bladerunner’, we must ask the question “What about Eudroids?”

    With the departure of the United Kingdom from the EU monolith, over 23 million British sheep regained their nationality. The even better news for these sheep – if the UK Government so legislates – is that they will no longer be subject to the torture of a very long journey crammed in on an EU27 truck, only to be killed in an EU country on finally reaching their destination.

    © Brexit Facts4EU.Org – click to enlarge

    Over one-quarter of all sheep in the EU were British, and one might assume that these animals are now very happy not to be part of the EU, with its livestock policies.

    In a Brexit Facts4EU.Org report coming in the next few days, we will reveal the recent relaxations of the EU’s food safety standards. This information is truly shocking. Our report will show that the EU is certainly in no position to talk about chlorinated chicken.

    We know that there are many organisations seeking donations. For almost five years we have been working seven days per week. Brexit Facts4EU is the most prolific researcher and publisher of Brexit facts in the world. We have initiated many campaigns and have secured the support of many other serious Brexit groups in these efforts.

    Please make a donation today, using the secure and confidential links below, so that we can see this thing through to the end. Thank you so much.

    [ Sources: Eurostat (official EU statistics agency) ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org, 01 Oct 2020

    Click here to go to our news headlines

    Please scroll down to COMMENT on the above article.
    And don’t forget to actually post your message after you have previewed it!

    Share this article on

    Since before the EU Referendum, Brexit Facts4EU.Org
    has been the most prolific researcher and publisher of Brexit facts in the world.

    Supported by MPs, MEPs, & other groups, our work has impact.

    We think facts matter.
    Please donate today, so that we can continue to ensure a clean Brexit is finally delivered.

    Any credit card user

    Donate

    Subscribe

    Paypal Users Only – Choose amount first

  • One disease kills over half a million in the EU each year – and it’s not COVID

    Today the EU marks International Heart Day – we bring you the official Brexit facts

    © Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2020

    Heart disease kills almost three times as many EU & UK citizens as COVID

    The EU has just published a report to mark International Heart Day today, 29 Sept 2020.

    The latest data which has been published by the EU shows figures for 2016 and includes the United Kingdom. Among the 4.5 million deaths reported in the European Union in 2016, more than half a million were due to coronary diseases, including heart attacks.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

    • EU deaths from heart disease (2016): 542,700
    • EU deaths ‘with’ COVID (2020 to date) : 188,499
    • Total EU deaths in 2016 from all causes: 4,527,500

    © Brexit Facts4EU.Org – click to enlarge

    • Current ratio of heart disease deaths to ‘with COVID’ deaths: 2.9 to 1
    • And heart disease is only the third most common cause of death

    Where does the UK sit? The facts on heart disease across the EU

    At EU level, the standardised rate of deaths from coronary heart diseases stood at 1,194 deaths per million inhabitants in 2016. Men were almost twice as likely to die from coronary heart diseases as women, with 1,625 deaths per million for men compared to 881 deaths per million for women.

    The likelihood of dying from heart disease varies dramatically across the EU. (We have shown the UK as it was still a member state in 2016.)

    © Brexit Facts4EU.Org – click to enlarge

    Observations

    Heart disease is not the main killer in the EU and UK. In fact it’s the third most common cause of death, after cancer and dementia. COVID-19 is of course way down the list, as we have previously reported.

    Nevertheless, it is International Heart Day and the EU have marked this. We felt it only right to do the same, but felt that readers might like to see a comparison with COVID-19.

    In these troubled times facts are important for the public. Sadly the ‘facts’ from the likes of Sir Patrick Vallance and Professor Chris Whitty at this week’s press conference were lamentable, to say the least. Their absurd conjecture of an exponential explosion in COVID has already proved to be nonsense, with ‘case’ numbers dropping ever since they made their announcement.

    Below is the latest chart for deaths ‘with COVID’ from the Government, as of yesterday.

    © HMG – click to enlarge

    We hope we have provided information which informs the public debate and which lends a sense of proportion to the doom-mongering daily news from the BBC and other broadcasters.

    As ever, we will be returning to our usual specialism of Brexit in our coming articles. If you can help us to keep going in the fight for a fully free, independent and sovereign United Kingdom, you will find quick, secure, and confidential donation methods below this article. Thank you so much.

    [ Sources: Official EU statistics 28 Sept 2020 | UK Government official COVID stats 28 Sept 2020 ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Tues 29 Sept 2020

    Click here to go to our news headlines

    Please scroll down to COMMENT on the above article.
    And don’t forget to actually post your message after you have previewed it!

    Share this article on

    Since before the EU Referendum, Brexit Facts4EU.Org
    has been the most prolific researcher and publisher of Brexit facts in the world.

    Supported by MPs, MEPs, & other groups, our work has impact.

    We think facts matter.
    Please donate today, so that we can continue to ensure a clean Brexit is finally delivered.

    Any credit card user

    Donate

    Subscribe

    Paypal Users Only – Choose amount first

  • Want six new taxes? Vote for the EU. (Otherwise thank goodness for Brexit)

    EU Parliament plans for new EU taxes from 01 January, and for all rebates to be abolished

    © Brexit Facts4EU.Org 2020

    Without Brexit, the UK economy would have been hammered under the latest plans

    Yesterday the EU Parliament summarised its position on new and additional funding for the EU. It involves the introduction of six new EU-level taxes, as well as removing the rebates enjoyed by some countries. If the UK were still a full member of the EU this would have resulted in an increase of some 50% in the UK’s annual contributions to the EU.

    These proposals were all originally made prior to the COVID crisis, but the plans are now being justified as being a solution to the massive need for funding as a result of the EU’s new financial mechanisms to deal with these commitments.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

    The EU Parliament’s grab for more money for the EU

    1. January 2021: a new tax on member countries based on non-recycled plastic
    2. January 2021: a new tax on member countries based on the Emissions Trading System (a ‘carbon tax’)
    3. January 2023: a new digital services tax on internet-based businesses
    4. January 2023: a new carbon tax on imports of goods from outside the EU
    5. January 2024: a new financial transactions tax
    6. January 2026: a new EU corporate tax on companies

    Taxes go up and rebates get abolished

    Finally, there is a complete removal of the rebates on contributions enjoyed by some countries. Last year the UK’s rebate was £4.5bn, so the UK’s net contributions to the EU would rise by approximately this level if the UK were still a member.

    © Brexit Facts4EU.Org – click to enlarge

    “MEPs also insist on the abolition of all rebates.”

    – EU Parliament report, 24 Sept 2020

    In 2019 according to HM Treasury and the House of Commons Library, the UK’s net contribution to the EU was £9.44bn. In fact it was higher, as a result of the “off-budget” payments to the EU which never appear in their summaries. Nevertheless we have shown that the official figure would rise by 48% to £13.96bn without the UK’s rebate.

    The costs of being a member of the EU would rise significantly under the EU Parliament’s plans

    The EU Parliament has couched the new taxes in ways which disguise the fact that member countries and their citizens will end up paying more. Under the above measures, the cost of doing business in the EU will rise. Ultimately this has a direct effect on all citizens.

    Here is an example of how these things are expressed in the EU Parliament’s legislative resolution of 16 September 2020 on the draft Council decision on the system of own resources of the European Union (10025/2020 – C9-0215/2020 – 2018/0135(CNS)) :-

    “such costs should be covered entirely by income from genuine new own resources”

    To describe these new taxation revenue streams as “genuine new own resources” appears to come from the ‘money grows on (carbon-neutral) trees’ school of thinking.

    The EU is not only spending, it is now having to borrow for the first time

    The EU Parliament’s legislative resolution also gives permission for the EU Commission to borrow on the world markets for the first time, thereby setting a dangerous precedent. Here is the opening statement:-

    “(1a) This Decision provides the legal basis for the Commission to borrow funds on the capital markets in order to finance expenditure in the framework of the Next Generation EU Recovery Package.”

    Observations

    When most prudent households find themselves in difficult economic times they tighten their belts. Not so the EU.

    Four years ago when faced with a large shortfall in income as a result of losing the UK’s annual contribution, did the EU scale back on its expenditures? No, it just kept on spending. The EU then simply came up with the idea of a “Divorce Bill” which was shockingly agreed to by Theresa May and her government.

    © Brexit Facts4EU.Org – click to enlarge

    Today, faced with the double whammy of the loss of the “Bank of the UK” and the astronomical costs of the EU’s COVID measures, the EU Parliament’s solution is to tax more widely and deeply.

    The EU Parliament is not, of course, the ultimate decision-maker. These things involve the EU Council and the EU Commission too. All we can say is that the Commission always wants to extend its reach and the globalist leaders of most of the EU member states believe in the gradual creation of a superstate of ‘Europe’.

    All non-EU countries – including the UK – will be hit by the EU Parliament’s plans

    Thanks to Brexit, the UK will not be facing a huge increase in its annual contribution for future years of membership of this sclerotic organisation. This would have happened – without Brexit – if the EU abolishes all rebates, as we have shown in our chart above.

    Instead the UK taxpayer will merely be paying out huge sums which have no basis in international law for the EU’s contrived “Divorce Bill”.

    That said, some of the new taxes described above will affect British companies who wish to trade with the EU, as well as those from other countries around the world. Taxes 3, 4, and 5 in our list above will almost certainly affect non-EU businesses.

    Remainers never said what type of EU we would be remaining in

    It’s important when reading a report such as the one above to state that the British public did actually vote for Brexit and we will be leaving. The Remain side have been fond of saying “Yes, but no-one ever voted for a particular type of Brexit.” However – and as we pointed out many times during the debate – no-one on the Remain side ever admitted that no-one knew what voting Remain would mean. What type of EU would we remain in? Our report clearly shows one very expensive example of this.

    The Brexit bonus

    One way or the other Great Britain will finally be leaving the Customs Union and Single Market on 31 December 2020. Very sadly we will be leaving Northern Ireland behind, as things currently stand. We don’t yet know the precise terms of our departure, and we can only and sincerely hope that the Government will remain resolute and true to their words. If they don’t they will not be forgiven by a great many millions of voters.

    To quote the Rt Hon the Baroness Thatcher from a different era, 32 years ago:

    “We have not successfully rolled back the frontiers of the state in Britain, only to see them reimposed at a European level, with a European super-state exercising a new dominance from Brussels.”

    This threat remains, if the Government does not repudiate the Withdrawal Treaty before the end of this year.

    The upside is that the EU seems to be very busy, continuing to make itself less and less attractive as a place to do business. This presents great opportunities for an independent, democratic, sovereign, and free trade-loving United Kingdom to reap the rewards.

    It is essential that the Government does not compromise in the coming weeks. This is why we continue to fight.

    Please help us to keep going in publishing research like this, and influencing politicians and decision-makers. Before moving on we would just ask if you might make a donation – of any size – to support our important work? We have no corporate backers and need the generosity of people like you in order to survive and see this through. Thank you so much.

    [ Sources: EU Parliament | HM Treasury | House of Commons Library ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

    Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Sat 26 Sept 2020

    Click here to go to our news headlines

    Please scroll down to COMMENT on the above article.
    And don’t forget to actually post your message after you have previewed it!

    Share this article on

    Since before the EU Referendum, Brexit Facts4EU.Org
    has been the most prolific researcher and publisher of Brexit facts in the world.

    Supported by MPs, MEPs, & other groups, our work has impact.

    We think facts matter.
    Please donate today, so that we can continue to ensure a clean Brexit is finally delivered.

    Any credit card user

    Donate

    Subscribe

    Paypal Users Only – Choose amount first