British Prime Minister Boris Johnson Enters New Deal with EU over Brexit

It appears that the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has entered a dew deal with the European Union over Brexit. Sources indicate that the deal came on the sidelines of a meeting in Brussels of EU leaders. Although the legal context of the deal isn’t yet clear, the British Prime Minister has already indicated via a tweet that the deal gives control back to the British.

We’ve got a great new deal that takes back control — now Parliament should get Brexit done on Saturday so we can move on to other priorities like the cost of living, the NHS, violent crime and our environment #GetBrexitDone #TakeBackControl

— Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) October 17, 2019

Already, markets both European have been reacting negatively amidst the fears of a no-deal Brexit scenario. Already, the only sign of European stocks recovering on the STOXX 600 was only Ericsson rising 6.4 % due to the reporting of earnings that surpassed all expectations. The London markets are still already in the doldrums as the FTSE rose at a weak rate of 0.4 % while the Midcaps index fell 0.3 % and the Irish markets fell 0.3% as well.

While it remains yet to be seen if the parliaments of both sides will accept the new deal, already the Northern Irish have indicated their opposition to the new deal.

The Democratic Unionist Party has already indicated that it won’t accept the terms of the new deal. In a statement, the DUP said that they “could not back” the proposals as things stand. As such, they further stated that their original statement still stands.

The major issues which have been causing consternation, however, have been resolved. The fine points of the deal are as follows:

• The United Kingdom will enter a period of changing from European Union rules to strictly British ones to allow for the business environment to normalize. This will happen through 2020 and possibly beyond.
• Associated charges as regards Brexit will leave the British with as much as 39Billion pounds.
• All rights of citizens living in both regions will be respected and protected (EU citizens living in the UK and vice versa).
• Northern Ireland will have a distinct relationship with the European Union’s single market allowing it to trade directly with the bloc.
• The customs union option which Prime Minister Theresa involved the UK in has been removed.
• Northern Ireland will also be included in future trade negotiations since it is a part of the United Kingdom,
• Northern Ireland will also be a trading point for the European Union made goods. The United Kingdom, however, will include tariffs for goods coming in from the EU.
• A committee comprised of both the UK and EU will jointly examine goods that may enter the single market and the UK will collect the appropriate tariffs and duties.
• The Northern Island Assembly will vote to determine the status of the new setup. This will occur every four years.
• A single majority vote will be required rather than a mix of the majority of both the unionists and nationalists.

This new deal has been met with mixed reactions by members of the British parliament. Leader of the house of commons Jacob Rees Mogg has backed the new terms. Nigel Farage of the Brexit party has called for the arrangements to be rejected. The Liberal Democrats leader Jo Swinson has also called for the rejections while the DUP has still not changed their stance which has been earlier reported.

No 10 source says Johnson will ask leaders to rule out a further delay – he’s expected to ask them to make clear it’s ‘the new deal or no deal but no delays’ he will tell EU leaders

— Laura Kuenssberg (@bbclaurak) October 17, 2019

Sources indicate that the Prime Minister will request that the European Union leaders reject any requests for extension of Brexit while it is expected that parliament will on the new arrangements on Saturday. Already, parliament had passed a law in September that required the Prime Minister to request for an extension for Brexit if parliament had not reached a deal or backed a no-deal situation by October 19.

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