Brexit benefits - where are they?

Controversial: Politics & Govt Brexit
1764

Getting tougher, in Finland, it seems:-

DT, today:-

" Finland will oppose the surrender of any more national powers to the EU, the new government in Helsinki warned as it put itself on a collision course with Brussels.

Right-wing parties also ruled out increasing Finland’s payments to the EU budget, despite the European Commission calling for more money because of the war in Ukraine.

“Finland wants the EU to play big on big issues and small on small issues,” their coalition agreement said.“Finland advocates for a clear division of competences between the union and the member states, which should not be expanded with a new interpretation of the treaties.”

The conservative coalition vowed to fight any more European-level bailouts or rescue funds, such as the €750 billion Covid recovery fund, which pooled common debt among member states.

It insisted that EU governments be solely responsible for their own national debt in an agreement that completes the ousting of Sanna Marin, the centre-Left and pro-EU prime minister, after elections in April.

The centre-Right Coalition Party won the elections with 48 seats and were followed by the Finns Party – an anti-immigration hard-Right party that has called for Finland to quit the EU – which took 46 seats.

Ms Marin’s Social Democratic Party came third with 43 seats, but was shut out of a possible coalition because it opposed conservative calls for huge cuts to public spending to reboot Finland’s stagnant economy.

The conservative coalition in Finland includes an anti-immigration hard-Right party

The conservative coalition in Finland includes an anti-immigration hard-Right party CREDIT: Kimmo Penttinen/AFP via Getty Images

The Coalition Party and Finns Party will enter government with the minority-language Swedish People’s Party and the Christian Democrats.

“The EU budget must be kept at a reasonable level, avoiding an increase in Finland’s net contribution,” their coalition agreement said. “Finland will not commit to measures that would shape the European Union into an asymmetric income transfer union. The recovery instrument was an exceptional one-off solution that should not serve as a precedent.”

The new government has undertaken to keep close ties with Britain and to repair relations damaged by Brexit.

“The government will maintain and deepen Finland’s close multi-sectoral links to the United Kingdom. It will promote a strong partnership between the UK and the EU,” the deal said.

The Finns Party was able to secure a crackdown on immigration and asylum in coalition negotiations, which dragged on for 11 weeks before being finalised on Friday.

Refugee status will be made temporary by the new government, which is also considering prison sentences for people staying illegally in Finland.

The coalition agreement says that “the government will make international protection temporary in nature”, with the time limit cut to the EU minimum of three years. Any refugee who commits a serious crime will have their protection revoked and be banned from entering Finland.

“The government will examine the possibilities to impose a prison sentence as a punishment for illegal stays in the country, taking into account the impacts of this on general government finances,” the agreement said.

“Rejected asylum applicants will return, or will be returned to, their countries of origin as soon as possible,” it added as it promised faster processing at Finland’s borders. It said“the government will ensure that the asylum process will not become a channel for job-seeking and labour immigration”.

Rejected asylum seekers will be deported even if they have obtained a job during the asylum process, according to the blueprint.

Near neighbour Sweden’s Right-wing government has also tightened its immigration rules, following the lead of Denmark, which has long had one of the toughest regimes of the Nordic countries.

However, the coalition government has pledged a far warmer welcome for refugees from Ukraine in a deal that continues Helsinki’s firm support for Kyiv in the face of Russia’s invasion.

“I am proud of the good programme and the result of the negotiations,” Petteri Orpo, the National Coalition Party leader, who will be prime minister, said. “We have disagreed on some things and I’m sure we still have disagreements, but what unites us is that we want to put Finland in order.”

3 Likes
1765

Thank you for the interesting article. There are very valid points raised, I am sure some other members will take the same position.

1766

yeah exactly, get AI to fix your boiler or build a new patio.

1767

That will then be the AI that the EU has to import from the UK according to the talks that R.Sunak held with J.Biden recently.

1768

With a kind view of your posts one might accept that you explained your view (not anything confirmed by anyone else of course) of “why” it was that CAP punished UK farmers. However I was asking for justification of the manner or mechanism by which this claim of punishing UK farmers. All you’ve explained is that both French & UK farmers got subsidies. Now you say that there were single market rules preventing UK farm produce being sold into the EU. Really? That (apart from the BSE issue) is utter rubbish.
And the same for vets at abattoirs. This was not uniquely imposed on the UK, it was a pan-EU directive. And a good one to prevent inhumane slaughter and processing. So no specifically UK disadvantage. Again, you spout myopic rubbish.
This is so like your claims about the US being the UK’s largest export market. You make claims and then have to back track.

1769

I’m not posting this because I agree with it, but just in case anybody is interested in reading it. It would be a funny old world if his predictions are correct:

https://12ft.io/proxy?q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegraph.co.uk%2Fnews%2F2023%2F06%2F21%2Fbritains-right-will-soon-be-clamouring-to-rejoin-the-eu%2F

Britain’s Right will soon be clamouring to rejoin the EU – and the Left will be defending Brexit

1770

The AI may already be forcing the issue.

1771

Thank you for sharing an article you disagree with. I read with interest but ended up disappointed. It was full of unsubstantiated predictions. The reflections it offered in looking back was more interesting - the 70’s / 80’s time when Labour was mostly against being in the EEC. But Labour was a mess then.

1772

Labour alas is still unconvincing .

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1773

We would have to be really stupid to rejoin. We have lost all the negotiated exemptions and we would be forced to join the euro.

It’s a one way street, so all I can see is that we will form some sort of customs union in the longer term rather than the rubbish arrangements we have now.

There was a discussion about this on LBC last night and they were indicating than once Macron leaves it should be easier because he is too “emotional” about the situation.

The trouble was that all we did was complain about the EU without wanting to do the hard work of running it and changing its direction when we were members. Britain should have been far more influential but didn’t want to make the effort. Other countries have far more benefit from the EU and do what they like in their own nations.

We just seemed to winge a lot and as it’s proving to be the case that it was our government causing the problems all along. That alongside big business has blocked free trade with the EU and other nations. But then the attitude in this country is all about pointing fingers of blame instead of actually doing anything pro-active and taking accountability for situations.

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1774

The journos think it hilarious writing about re-joining the EU.

Have they got nothing better to do?

1775

While I agree with your post at this point I ask you to kindly help me understand. What was it that “other nations” did that the UK could not or did not want to do. And which nations were that? Thank you in advance.

One example would be Croatia having a blue passport despite being an EU member and the UK did not.

1776

I think your last para sums up exactly what was wrong with Britain’s membership of the EU, it never exploited the opportunities that membership offered even though it boasted that it was instrumental in setting it up.

You are quite right that there is no going back (except as a very junior partner without any of the benefits originally had), the EU is a tough negotiator, as Britain has already discovered. Australia has recently threatened to walk away from the FTA under negotiation if no progress is made in key areas.

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1777

France has always been right in there happy to roll up their sleeves and muck in. Putting their current administration aside.

Blue passports in Croatia? I remember reading up on this at the time and there was nothing to stop us having blue passports. Of course people don’t do their research about such nonsense.

1778

The Indepenant has gone mad :dizzy_face:
“British meat and fish exports to EU slump by half since Brexit”

There is a lot of anti-Brexit rhetoric on the Independant today claiming that Brexit has halved the UKs export to the EU. They make it look like a disaster which is not fair.

The UK chose to change the relationship with the EU and become a third country. Of course the gov’s experts have checked the pros and cons beforehand.

Now that there are numerous new and better FTAs with other countries it is inevitable to reduce trade with customer A when there are new customers B, C and so on. Assuming that production does not increase at least.

And the Indy even claims “Keir Starmer’s party is demanding a new veterinary deal with Brussels to ease the “mountain of red tape” faced by British businesses trading with Britain’s nearest neighbours.”

I hope that this is not true as it would render Starmers party foolish. Demanding such a thing from the EU is futile.

1779

I know the act that I see has stupid. There was a member of the audience on BBC QT last night who described her logic for voting to leave. Essentially she got annoyed by the perception that when the EU defined standards the UK would adhere to them rigorously but other countries would take a more casual approach to applying such standards. She specifically cited the adherence or not to safety equipment when workers are at height.
Wow. That was this person’s level of in depth thinking about the pros & cons of being in the EU. Strewth.

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1780

I saw somebody talk about that woman from the audience in a YT video.
Bottom line is that she prefers lower safety standards (e. g. no hard hat on construction sites) for workers.

Interesting what reasons people may have to vote leave and accept the consequences… :thinking:

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1781

Good article by Kate Hoey:

1782

I remember during the debates a youngster saying she was going to vote remain because of the mobile roaming charges and I thought to myself and they want 16 year olds to have the vote.

I didn’t watch the programme, but have read this article and a lot of what was said has been said by Brexiteers on here, but remainers keep coming out with the same old same old:

1783

The girl made a sensible point .
Anyone travelling in the eU now pays horrendous roaming charges if they use a British number .