EU mulls future without UK

Leaders struggle to reassure wary partners

BRUSSELS, March 11, (Agencies): Top European Union officials struggled Friday to reassure smaller countries from the east that they would not be left behind as the bloc charts its future without Britain.

At a summit in Brussels marred by a rift with Poland, the presidents of the European Council and executive Commission repeated calls for unity as the remaining 27 nations debate whether the world’s biggest trading bloc should centralize more power in Brussels or temper its ambitions.

“Our main objective should be to strengthen trust and unity within the 27,” European Council President Donald Tusk said after chairing the final session of the two-day meeting. “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”

The session was meant to focus on preparations for a grand meeting in Italy on March 25 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the EU’s founding Treaty of Rome, but spiraled into an argument about whether heavyweight states should be allowed to forge ahead alone.

The 28 EU member nations already operate at different speeds in terms of inter-bloc cooperation. Only 19 use the euro single currency, smaller groups cooperate on matters such as taxes and divorce laws, and not all countries are part of Europe’s passport-free travel area.

Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker conceded that some countries fear this multi-speed Europe could be “seen as introducing a new dividing line, a new kind of Iron Curtain between East and West.”

‘Aging Parliament risks failure’:

British lawmakers say the UK’s leaky, crumbling Parliament building risks catastrophe if legislators and staff don’t move out for several years of urgent repairs.

The House of Commons Public Accounts

But, Juncker said, “this is not a matter of exclusion, it is a matter or organizing progress for those who want to do more.”

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, who faces elections next week, said talk of different speeds “leads notably east Europeans to think they are being pressured, with questions whether they are still players.”

His Polish counterpart, Beata Szydlo, said that her country “will never agree to a Europe of different speeds because that would lead to the EU’s disintegration.”

The prospect of an influential member like Britain leaving the EU, probably in 2019, has deeply shaken its partners.

Advantage

The bloc was already struggling to recover from the economic crisis and facing a refugee emergency that undermined trust between neighbors. Beyond that, a spate of terror attacks in European cities heightened security fears and the far-right has taken advantage in a pivotal election year.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Europe’s motto must be “that we are united, but also united in diversity.”

“We already have today a Europe of different speeds,” she said, adding that the spirit should be that things are “open for every member state to participate, there is no exclusion.”

French President Francois Hollande also sought to reassure wary partners.

“It’s not about excluding anyone. It’s about being able, for those who want to and without the treaties being

Committee says the building is in “a state of extreme disrepair. The risk of a catastrophic failure is high and growing with every month that passes.” A report last year said the 19th century landmark beside the River Thames is at risk of a flood or fire that could leave it uninhabitable. revised ... to go more quickly, without closing the door on anyone,” he said. “But as well, we cannot allow anyone to stop others who want to advance more quickly.”

Meanwhile, the European Union will be ready to respond within 48 hours to Britain’s notification that it plans to leave the 28-nation bloc, the chairman of EU leaders, Donald Tusk, said on Friday. Britain has said it will submit its formal notification to exit the EU by the end of March following last summer’s referendum. Some diplomats expect it to come as early as next week.

“We are well prepared for the whole procedure and I have no doubt that we will be ready within 48 hours, I think it is a proper time to react,” Tusk told a news conference.

Merkel said that, depending on the exact timing of the British notification, EU leaders would organise a special summit, at which they would agree broad negotiating guidelines for the European Commission to conduct the divorce talks with London.

“If the letter comes next week, the special summit will be on April 6,” Merkel told a news conference.

“If it comes later than next week then we’ll have to find a date after April 6. We are fully prepared and we will wait with interest. But on which day it will come in March is not of such great significance,” she said.

Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny told reporters the April 6 special summit could take place of Britain submited its notification by March 15.

EU leaders could then issue within 48 hours the guidelines for the negotiations with Britain.

It advised members of the House of Commons and House of Lords to move out for six years starting in the early 2020s.

Many lawmakers object to the plan, but the Public Accounts Committee endorsed it Friday, saying temporary relocation is the “most economical, effective and efficient” option. (AP)

‘Fund hopes to include cyber’:

Britain’s 6 billion pounds ($7.3 billion) terrorism reinsurance fund hopes to extend its cover to include cyber attacks on property, chief executive Julian Enoizi said.

Pool Re, set up in 1993, acts as a backstop to insurers paying out claims on property damage and business interruption.

It is financed by the insurance industry with government backing, and pay outs depend on the British government deeming an attack to be terror-related, Enoizi said.

In 2002, Pool Re extended its cover to include chemical and biological attacks after the 9/11 attacks in the United States.

There have been several cyber attacks on property in recent years. In 2014, a German steel mill suffered damage to the plant’s network from a cyber attack.

Enoizi told Reuters that this and other incidents had been ruled out as terror attacks, but Pool Re needed to be prepared.

“Insurance is there for the unimaginable we’re here to insure the unforeseen,” he said.

The fund has held discussions with the government and industry, and it hopes to add cyber to its coverage in the next few months, he added. (RTRS)