I’ve been listening to a whole lot of Brexit lectures from the LSE (it seems that Brexit-related lectures take place every second day on the campus). In case you’re not up to date, there are three main issues that need to be ‘finalised’ so that the Brexit negotiations can move onto ‘the next phase’. I gather that the next phase involves being able to discuss free trade, Britain’s future relationship with the EU and (most importantly) whether London can still be the finance capital of the world.
But the EU won’t discuss that until:
- Everyone has decided what to do with their citizens;
- Britain has agreed to pay the EU what it owes; and
- There’s an agreement on the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Michel Barnier, the EU negotiator, recently tweeted out these summaries (which I think are worth looking at):
They do all feel a little heavy-handed.
But given that they come from the EU bureaucracy, I don’t think that’s altogether unexpected.
Rolling Alpha posts opinions on finance, economics, and sometimes things that are only loosely related. Follow me on Twitter @RollingAlpha, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/rollingalpha. Also, check out the RA podcast on iTunes: The Story of Money.
