No Plan B in event of LEAVE vote...

EU leaders have not planned for a British exit from the EU after the 23 June referendum, the president of the Eurogroup said Thursday (2 June), reports EUobserver. Speaking at the European Business Summit in Brussels, Jeroen Dijsselbloem said that there was no EU plan B: https://euobserver.com/institutional/133682

[Br]exit would cost UK service industry up to £68 billion a year … That's according to new research by Frontier Economics for the business group London First, reported in Politico Morning Exchange. The research says: "If alternative arrangements to the single market were established based on normal free trade agreements, the damage to U.K. services businesses would be significant. Leaving the EU would be particularly damaging to the U.K. because it is the second-largest exporter of services in the world":

… and a 10 percent drop in the FTSE 100 in the first year: That's UBS's prediction, says Morning Exchange. "Banks, insurance, listed REITs [real estate investment trusts], homebuilders, general retail and leisure are the types of domestic sectors which may react the most negatively to an exit from the EU," the bank said in a note to clients: https://dub129.mail.live.com/?tid=cm1nQPX10p5hG96NidZ19F2g2&fid=flinbox

The British pound would sink 9 percent against the dollar in the immediate aftermath of Britons voting to leave the European Union on June 23, a Reuters poll of foreign exchange strategists showed on Thursday.Conversely, if they decide to remain in the 28-member union then the pound would gain 4 percent on the greenback, the survey of more than 30 currency forecasters taken in the past week found: http://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-eu-pound-idUKKCN0YO16R

Market fears over the U.K. leaving the EU are driving up the cost of food and drink, reports Politico Morning Agri and Food, citing a story in Food and Drink Europe newsletter: https://dub129.mail.live.com/?tid=cmjgNEdUgp5hGdzwAjfeQWeg2&fid=flinbox

German Chancellor Angela Merkel made her strongest intervention in the Brexit debate so far, warning that the U.K. would be isolated and lose influence if it leaves the European Union in the referendum in three weeks' time, Bloomberg reports…[W]e would never make the same compromises, or achieve the same good results, for states that don't take on the responsibility and costs of the single market," Merkel said at a news conference in Berlin on Thursday. "One nation alone will never be able to achieve such good results": http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-06-02/merkel-warns-u-k-of-isolation-if-brexit-camp-wins-on-june-23

There is faint light at the end of the tunnel for the European Central Bank and its president, Mario Draghi, reports Politico.The numbers at Thursday's ECB meeting, for once, were Draghi's friends, enabling him to show that the ECB's "unconventional" policies are working…Thursday's meeting marked a serious change of the overall mood at such ECB gatherings, says Politico. Even if the economic and political headwinds remain as strong as ever, Draghi's long wait for concrete and positive results may have ended: https://dub129.mail.live.com/?tid=cm1nQPX10p5hG96NidZ19F2g2&fid=flinbox

The European Union and the United States yesterday (2 June) signed a deal to protect personal data transferred across the Atlantic in a bid to fight crime and terrorism, reports EurActiv: http://www.euractiv.com/section/digital/news/eu-us-sign-privacy-shield-deal/?nl_ref=14167642

Europe's telecoms operators will have to justify giving priority to certain services on their network, according to new EU regulatory guidelines in a move likely to disappoint an industry hoping for more leeway so they can boost revenues, reports EurActiv: http://www.euractiv.com/section/innovation-industry/news/eu-regulators-take-tough-approach-to-net-neutrality/?nl_ref=14167642

The European Commission is weighing in on the side of the "sharing economy" [examples - Uber and Airbnb] and is urging sceptics to get used to the idea, reports EUobserver: https://euobserver.com/economic/133685

[EU] member states will be asked collectively to ratify the landmark Paris agreement to fight climate change within two weeks, French Minister for the Environment Segolène Royal said Thursday (2 June), reports EurActiv: http://www.euractiv.com/section/climate-environment/news/eu-states-will-be-asked-to-ratify-climate-deal-in-june/?nl_ref=14167642

Top trade officials from the United States, the European Union and five other countries involved in talks aimed at eliminating tariffs on a wide array of environmental goods said they hoped to reach a final deal by September, when China hosts the Group of 20 Leaders meeting in Hangzhou, reports Politico: https://dub129.mail.live.com/?tid=cm1JVKYpgo5hGf2QAhWtamwg2&fid=flinbox

Dutch scientist and Wageningen University President Louise O. Fresco said there's little evidence organic food has any special health benefits, adding that EU food safety standards are so strong there's no danger from pesticide residues, reports Politico Morning Agri and Trade, picking up a story in The Telegraph. She also said organic farming could actually be more wasteful than other methods since it avoids using fertilizers to boost yields: https://dub129.mail.live.com/?tid=cmjgNEdUgp5hGdzwAjfeQWeg2&fid=flinbox

The [European] Commission continues to crack down on potentially harmful agricultural chemicals, claiming herbicides isoproturon and amitrole as its latest victims, reports Politico Morning Agri and Food. Their approval expires at the end of June: https://dub129.mail.live.com/?tid=cmjgNEdUgp5hGdzwAjfeQWeg2&fid=flinbox

TiSA TALKS MARCH ON: PoliticoMorning Trade got a glimpse of the ongoing negotiations Thursday, where the feeling was that the Trade in Service Agreement is moving forward at a good pace and a conclusion by the end of the year, if not just after, is likely. [TiSA is a trade agreement currently being negotiated by 23 members of the World Trade Organisation, including the EU]… Morning Trade also learned that the European Commission has been criticized by other negotiating partners for being too transparent with procedures, an accusation that might sound like a surprise to many critics of free trade deals who often claim the Commission is doing everything behind closed doors: https://dub129.mail.live.com/?tid=cmbhfAlEgp5hGQu9idZ1zNng2&fid=flinbox

On 1 June 2016, the Council [of EU Ministers] authorised, on behalf of the EU, the signature and provisional application of the economic partnership agreement (EPA) between the EU and the South African Development Community (SADC) EPA Group. The South African Development Community EPA group comprises Botswana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland. The economic partnership agreements are intended to enhance regional integration and economic development in the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries. See the Council's press release here: http://www.consilium.europa.eu/en/press/press-releases/2016/06/01-epa-sadc/

Ahead of an official seal of approval by all MEPs, the leaders of the six non-nationalist party groups in the Parliament approved a plan for a committee made up of 65 MEPs to investigate [the Panama Papers], reports Politico: https://dub129.mail.live.com/?tid=cmbJTkzkgp5hGpAxBgS7KTtA2&fid=flinbox

One of Russia's top steel firms has launched a fierce, personal and multi-pronged attack on the European Commission in its bid to overturn anti-dumping penalties, reports EUobserver: https://euobserver.com/economic/133694

Courtesy of Peter Morris, North East in Europe