London financial district envoy critical of Brussels
The City of London Corporation’s special representative to the European Union, Jeremy Browne, has slammed Brussel’s (HQ of EU) approach to negotiating with the UK as “bewildering” and “reckless”. This former Liberal Democrats’ Home Office minister, is also fearful that the bloc is “affronted by the idea of London remaining brazenly unaffected” by Brexit.
In a series of colourful dispatches sent to UK ministers and trade bodies from across the continent, Browne tells of Switzerland’s dream of a so-called “F4” alliance with London and Poland’s “myopic obsession with the size of Britain’s exit fee”.
When it comes to siding with UK interests, Browne finds Finland and Sweden’s hearts are in the right place, although “their herbivorous nature prevents them from grabbing the steering wheel”.
Italians, meanwhile, “retain a sentimental affinity for Britain” and are judged to be more “conciliatory than the French or Germans”. In one dispatch, he revealed his concerns over the way Brussels is handling negotiations.
He said, “Some brinkmanship is inevitable, but it requires good judgement about where the brink is. The inability of Brussels to comprehend British politics, or read the British character at the most elementary level, is bewildering; reckless even.”
He added, “It is true that the British often suffer from similar failings, but the relevant consideration with Brexit is the interaction between the EU and Britain.
If Croatia was leaving we would all have to brush up on the psyche of the Croatians, but they are not.”
Despite his frustrations, Browne believes “negotiations will ultimately succeed, or at least not wholly fail.” He added that in various areas there was “recognition of the scale of the City of London (the business area) and acknowledgement that inflicting excessive harm on London would have negative consequences for the EU27 (the remaining 27 member states) as well as for Britain”.
There hasn’t been as much progress in negotiations as would have been hoped.
Companies in the financial district of London and elsewhere are waiting anxiously to see if some sensible compromise proposals can finally emerge on the access of City firms to the EU Single Market so as to keep the 350,000 EU financial services “passports” that have allowed the City (financial district) to become the Wall Street of Europe since Margaret Thatcher (former PM) abolished national vetoes to create the single market in the 1980s.
To avoid any necessary disruption, it is expected, that both sides should seek to agree on an interim period, in further negotiations.
That would be a strong indicator to all businesses and the public that politicians on both sides are serious about finding a constructive outcome that works for all involved.
According to Brexit minister, David Davis, it was clear from the Article 50 letter and from the EU’s negotiating guidelines that both sides recognise the mutual benefit of providing time for everyone involved to implement the new arrangements.
He had said that the united desire to avoid unnecessary disruption or a disorderly exit for the UK from the EU is a strong foundation for further negotiations.
Browne said, “At the heart of everything sits the same recurring dilemma for both the British and the EU27.
The British must decide between a sovereignty-inspired freedom to diverge from the EU27 rule book and the pragmatic business benefits of maintaining some alignment.” He further said: “The EU27 must choose between also leaning towards business-friendly pragmatism or a conscious pursuit of non-cooperation to demonstrate to the potentially faint-hearted that “Brexit cannot be a success.”
As an example, he pointed to the debate over the fate of euro clearing.“Nobody disputes that the system currently works in practice, but the EU27 (or, more specifically, the Euro zone) has a supervisory and quasinationalistic desire to prevent business continuing as usual in London postBrexit,” he said.
“There is a technical dimension to their position, but they are also affronted by the idea of London remaining brazenly unaffected. The London perspective tends to be coldly pragmatic: ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
A City of London spokesperson said, “These memos are the corporation’s key points from meetings across member states with government representatives, financial institutions and a host of trade bodies.
These reports, published regularly are intended to make sure UK policymakers and businesses are kept informed of our discussions at these meetings.”