EU

British trade with the EU has collapsed

by
Share this
Share

In the first month after Brexit, Great Britain posted heavy foreign trade losses, collapsing by 41% in exports to the EU in January, coupled by a loss of 29% in imports. According to the British Statistical Authority, the foreign trade numbers are dramatically bad as the transition is problematic for many companies trading with the economic zone. It cited the export of fresh food such as fish to the EU which fell by two thirds in January. The new bureaucracy and the regulations brought about by Brexit are complex for many fishermen, noted the authority.

By Milan Sime Martinic

Curbing planned obsolescence: March brings new rules to EU that will make electronics last longer, easier to repair

by
Share this
Share

Consumers in the 27-nation bloc now will have the right to expect that their consumer electronics will have parts available and be able to be repaired for up to 10 years. New rules take effect this month following legislation passed last November by the European Parliament aiming to reduce electronic waste, monitor energy use, and protect consumers means.

“To be sustainable, products must be repairable, so that they can remain on the market for as long as possible. It is time to stamp out practices which prevent or hinder product repairs,” says the legislation in addressing premature obsolescence.

Europeans can now rely on their Ecological Design Directive’s “Right to Repair Rules” that require manufacturers include repair manuals with their products, and that standard tools can be used for repair and dismantling, including easier battery replacement and easier recycling. The directive also requires consumers have easier access to how much electricity household devices consume.

By Milan Sime Martinic

There is now a blueprint for energy transition in the US, Europe, and China

by
Share this
Share

Something that didn’t exist eight weeks ago.

With U.S. President Joe Biden rejoining 190 other countries in the Paris Climate Agreement, basically all countries on Earth are participating in a unified movement to combat global warming.

Under the agreement the U.S. plans to cut carbon emissions 25% from it’s 2005 levels by 2025 and contribute $3b to the cause. The U.S. is the world’s second biggest polluter after China, which last October announced a net-zero target for 2060. The EU is aiming at climate neutrality by 2050.

Biden’s election, as well as the stated goals of other world powers, have caused green energy companies to see significantly increased investment over the past months, a trend investors see continuing.

Global Sachs head of commodities research, Jeff Currie, spoke on the subject this week and said Goldman believed the green capex is going to be worth around $16t over the next decade. He compared that figure with the $10t China spent on green capex in its boom 2000’s, which in real terms is about the same amount.

By Sid Douglas

‘EU Is Risking Itself’ – George Soros

by
Share this
Share

Multi-Track Europe – Dysfunctional institutions – Peaceful Brexit – Reinvented EU

The American billionaire warned the EU this week that it was risking its own existence because of “dysfunctional institutions, a persistent austerity policy and outdated treaties.

“If the European Union carries on with business as usual, there is little hope for an improvement,” Soros said.

The Hungarian-born speculator had a lot of advice to give the EU. He said EU countries are interested in more control over their territory, not less as in the EU “ever closer union” doctrine. The UK had already voted to leave the EU, and populist trends in other countries were growing, so the EU should offer a “multi-track” Europe rather than a “multi-speed” one, in order to offer member states more options.

The three things Soros particularly stressed the EU improve their stance on: territorial disintegration, the refugee crisis, and the lack of adequate economic growth.

The upcoming Brexit negotiations would be important, Soros said, so the EU should behave with a “constructive spirit” and resist any urge to try to punish the UK. Brexit will already be damaging and harmful to both sides.

He said the EU should use Brexit negotiations to introduce far-reaching reforms and be “radically reinvented.”

Bilderberg Group to Meet on Russia, Trump and “Information War”

by
Share this
Share

This year’s meeting, taking place in Chantilly, Virginia, near the White House, includes the following topics: ‘Russia in the international order,’ China, ‘The Trans-Atlantic defence alliance: bullets, bytes and bucks,’ ‘The war on information,’ ‘Direction of the EU’ and ‘Why is populism growing?’

It’s the 65th meeting of the secretive group. Kissinger, Thiel, and upper level staff of news organizations like Bloomberg, The Economist, The Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera and the London Evening Standard will also be among the 130 so far confirmed.

2017 Attendees

Trump at NATO Meeting

by
Share this
Share

The president met with other world leaders in Brussels this week — a meeting for an organization he last year called “obsolete” in the city he last year called a “hell hole.”

Analysts noted that world leaders seemed somewhat dismayed about Trump’s continued insistence they pay more money. Trump reminded them many nations owe large amounts for their defense.

Trump also met with the two leaders of the EU, another institution previously heavily criticized by Trump, and with France’s new leader Macron.

Ireland Most Affected by Brexit: More Than Any EU Country

by
Share this
Share

Ireland was projected to be the EU’s fastest growing economy in 2016. The European Commission put Ireland’s growth forecast for 2016 at almost 5%, to be followed by another 3.7 percent in 2017, well above the EU average of 1.6 percent, which is the same number Germany is expected to grow in 2016.

However, Brexit is affecting Ireland more than any other country. Former prime minister John Bruton called it “the most serious, difficult issue facing the country for 50 years.”

The cause is Ireland’s reliance on trade with the UK, which is the main buyer of Ireland’s services and second-biggest buyer of Ireland’s exports after the US. Around 40% of Irish food exports go to the UK, and this type of product — agricultural — is considered to be highly subject to the tariffs that could result from Brexit.

Economists are now warning of significant negative consequences for the Irish economy following Brexit. A top economist in Ireland, Eoin Fahy, referred to the consequences as “mind-boggling.”

There has also been concern among politicians and intellectuals in the country that Brexit will “reveal tensions between unionists and nationalists that were always there” and lead to a “hardened border” between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.