Cian Hassett, Marketing Executive, Bord Bia - The Irish Food Board
Bord Bia’s Supply Chain Advantage Workshop
Registration for Bord Bia’s first Supply Chain workshop of 2020, led by our UK Supply Chain consultant Simply Supply Chain, has opened. This half day workshop will be held on Friday 24th January in Bord Bia’s Creative Workshop and follows on from the Supply Chain Optimisation Workshop held in October, focusing on developing UK customer advantage in the Supply Chain.
House of Commons starts debate on Boris Johnson’s toughened-up Brexit bill
Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal began its passage through parliament on Friday, with MP’s expected to pass his Withdrawal Agreement Bill at its second reading with a comfortable government majority. Mr Johnson’s legislation makes no concession to those looking for a softer exit and paves the way for the UK to leave the EU on January 31st. The bill will go through its remaining Commons and Lords stages in January. The Conservative victory in the election last week provides the prime minister with a comfortable 80-seat majority to enact his form of Brexit.
Mr Johnson told MP’s on Friday that Britain’s departure from the EU would mark the end of the “sorry story of the last three years”. Talks on the EU deal will however remain sensitive on both political and economic grounds. The Withdrawal Agreement Bill puts into British legislation the exit deal struck by the prime minister with the EU27 last October, covering the £39billion “divorce payment”, citizens’ rights, Northern Ireland and a transition period. Significantly, the bill has been given a tougher edge by Mr Johnson since the election and will include a provision that bans the prime minister from seeking to extend the standstill transition beyond December 2020.
Britain insists EU trade deal will be brokered by end of 2020
Boris Johnson has insisted he can broker a trade deal with the EU by the end of 2020 even as Brussels ramps up warnings that it may be impossible to complete the negotiations in time, creating the risk of an economic cliff edge. As both sides are preparing for future relationship talks following the planned exit from the EU on January 31st, Michael Gove, the UK cabinet minister, said over the weekend that trade negotiations would be concluded next year. Brussels has stressed that the 11-month window to negotiate a deal will force both sides to prioritise and potentially leave some issues unresolved until a later date.
EU officials in have said in private that the quality of talks will benefit from more time, something that will only happen if Boris Johnson reverses his opposition to extending Britain’s post-Brexit transition period beyond the end of 2020. Mr Johnson defied warnings from the EU that the December 2020 expiry date for the so-called standstill period leaves little time for talks on future relationships preserving trade.
The pound fell more than 2% against the dollar and euro last week, leaving it on track for its worst week against the single currency since July 2017 and close to its biggest weekly drop against the dollar this year. Sterling was trading 0.2% lower at $1.3050 in the wake of the Bank of England’s widely expected decision to leave interest rates on hold. Against the euro it fell 0.3% to €1.1735.
Key Dates
W/c 18th December: UK Parliament opens (first day of sitting still TBC but Monday likely)
31st January 2020: Current legal date for UK to leave the EU
June 2020: EU agrees MFF 2021-2027
December 2020: End of transition period [contingent on a Withdrawal Agreement being in place]