Boggart Abroad: Cameron Plays Deal Or No Deal In Europe

Friday, February 19, 2016

Cameron Plays Deal Or No Deal In Europe

cameron-europe-brexit

Prime Minister's EU negotiations go on all night and into the morning. Cameron tells Daily Stirrer, "I wish these buggers would stop talking, I desperately need a shit."

"I was here till 5 o'clock this morning working through this and we've made some progress but there's still no deal." - David Cameron.

That’s from British PM David Cameron, who was apparently up all night trying to make other European leaders understand why his country needs a better deal in order to poersuade the prople it is a good idea stay in the EU. Unless Cameron gets what he wants, what will enable him to sell the idea of surrendering national sovereignty to become a province of a Federal European Superstate ruled by a committee of unelected bureaucrats in to the British public he will not campaign for the UK to remain in the bloc ahead of an expected referendum on membership in June.

"Britain has always had an ambiguous relationship with the bloc, staying out of two of its most ambitious projects, the Schengen border free zone and the euro common currency,” Reuters reminds us. “Its exit would end the vision of the EU as the natural home for European democracies and reverse the continent's post-World War Two march toward ‘ever closer union.’"

Anyone familiar with the history of the European Union and how it operates will know and talk of democracy can be dismissed. The idea, from its conception in the 1950s was to merge the independent nations of europe into a single state, a bureaucratic dictatorship.

Cameron is mainly seeking changes that will reduce the UK's financial burden* as the second (of two) net contributors to the 28 member European Union it relates to refugees and other EU nations. "As I have said, I would only do a deal if we get what Britain needs, so we are going to get back in there," he said, after marathon talks.

*(Many widely varying figures are available, one even shows the economic basket case Italy as the EU's biggest net contributor when the Italian government has to borrow money every month from the EU simply to meet its obligations on public sector wages, unemployment and welfare benefits and old age pensions.)

"Paris has pushed for amendments to ensure Britain cannot veto actions by the euro zone countries or give City of London banks competitive advantage through regulation," Reuters goes on to note. "A group of east European states chaired by the Czechs is trying to hold back how far their citizens can be denied welfare benefits in Britain or have family allowances reduced."

Meanwhile, the Conservative Party and the UK press are pushing for reforms. "Britain's place in Europe has been allowed to fester for too long" Cameron says, but there's "now a chance to settle this issue for a generation".

"For now I can only say that we have made some progress but a lot needs to be done," EU president Donald Tusk said.

What is at stake on handing control of London's financial services sector to Brussels? Financial services account for 180 billion pounds ($258 billion) a year — about 12 percent — of U.K. economic output and contribute 66 billion pounds in taxes. In some areas, like foreign exchange trading (41 percent of the world total) and over-the counter derivatives (49 percent), London is the undisputed global leader. Opponents of a Brexit fear a departure would precipitate years of uncertainty and steady waning of influence and market share. Supporters of the leave campaign point to how hamstrung by idiotic EU bureaucracy the financial centres of Paris, Milan and Frankfurt and other major EU nation are as evidence that if we surrender more national sovereignty to the EU, bureaucratic control freakery will destroy our financial services industry.

One of the points at issue is 'passporting'. What is passporting and why does it matter? Under the current regime, any firm authorized in the U.K. firm is free to do business in any other European Economic Area state by applying for a "passport" from British regulators. For non-EU banks like JPMorgan Chase & Co., Credit Suisse Group AG or Nomura Holdings Inc., the ability to access the region’s 500 million customers from a base in London has been an important draw. Without it the globalists warn, many firms may seriously consider upping sticks. It has been shown however that because over - regulation and bureaucratic obstructionism are likely to harm financial trade more that being based in a non EU country, the big players will not leave. They simply fear that without Britain in the EU to veto further encroachment on business freedom by bureaucrats, European economies (except Norway, Switzerland and Britain) would contract.

In plain numbers what would Brexit mean for the banks? Every day more than a trillion dollars worth of euros change hands in London, close to half the global total, according to the Bank for International Settlements. The City’s global dominance of the foreign-exchange market would be threatened by any Brexit package that fails to guarantee a continuation of access to the single market, but like the ill considered economic sanctions on Russia, that would hurt E U nations more than Britain. Over-the-counter derivatives are another area being used by pro - E U scaremongers. About three-quarters of all trading in such instruments in Europe currently takes place in the British capital. Same rules apply however, it would be less of a disadvantage to investment banks than being hogtied by bureaucratic regulations in a more closely integrated EU economy.

via Zero Hedge

UK market share of financial trades compared to Germany and France (from TheCityUK)

from Her Majesty's revenue and Customs

EU trade with Britain, imports and exports. The trend is for trade with the rest of the world to increase while trade with the EU declines. This is probably because EU bureaucracy is stranging economic activity throughout the 28 member economic bloc. (Source: HMRC)

But numbers aren't likely to sway the British people who are prepared to opt out of the ill-fated union, because many see the commitment to a more closely integrated group of nations as a stepping stone to the nightmarish prospect of a global government based on Marxist principles.

Cameron says he's "battling for Britain", but in reality he's "battling for the EU." With the future of the union already in question thanks to the festering migrant crisis, Britain may well be better off abandoning this sinking ship. "It's the EU in question, not just one country in the EU," French President Francois Hollande said on Friday.

A timely admission from the beleaguered French President, the EU needs Britain more than Britain needs the EU. Now British voters must decide whether they want their nation to go down with the sinking ship prepared to go down with the ship, or risk being called rats for leaving. We should remember when deciding which way to vote, rats are very good survivors.

EU Judges Could Throw Out Dave’s Deal, Say Independent Researchers

Now we learn that not only does Cameron’s give us no new terms and conditions at all, only clever wordplay, his agreement with the European Union (EU) could be thrown out by European judges, according to independent research by the House of Commons library.

Friday, February 19, 2016

Cameron Plays Deal Or No Deal In Europe

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