Pay, no say, freedom of movement for all : Best case if UK leaves EU

The best case scenario for [the UK after Brexit] probably is the Norwegian model, German MEP Jo Leinen (SPD) told EurActiv in an interview: the UK would continue to enjoy access to the single market through membership of the European Economic Area, but would still have to pay for that privilege, as Norway does. But with this, the UK also takes on the same rules, like the principle of freedom of movement. That would probably be the main stumbling block in the negotiations: http://www.euractiv.com/section/uk-europe/interview/leinen-shock-of-brexit-would-draw-eu-closer-together/?nl_ref=14981497

[A]bout a week before voters go to the polls to determine their future, masters of finance are suddenly absorbing the prospect that Britain might really walk, unleashing anxiety and uncertainty throughout the global economy, reports the New York Times. Like local responders readying sandbags as a hurricane menaces their shores, financial industry overseers have been quietly drawing up contingency plans while surveying the expensive havoc a so-called Brexit isalready wreaking: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/16/business/international/the-financial-plan-for-a-brexit-cross-your-fingers.html?emc=edit_ee_20160616&nl=todaysheadlines-europe&nlid=74103272&_r=0

Germany and France have warned that the EU could "disintegrate" if the UK votes to leave next week, but the two founding members have pledged to fight for the bloc's unity, reports EUobserver. "If Britons decide to leave, we cannot continue the day after at 28 minus one," German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told journalists after a meeting with his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault. "That would be a shock for the EU, and we would have to watch out that a decades-long process of integration doesn't in the end turn into disintegration." Ayrault said: "Europe would be lacking a lot if Great Britain decided to leave": https://euobserver.com/uk-referendum/133847

Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, plans to meet with eurozone finance ministers today in Luxembourg to discuss the economic fallout from Britain's potential exit from the EU, reports Politico: https://dub129.mail.live.com/?tid=cmqb8C5H0z5hGUGwAhWtm8wg2&fid=flinbox

Welcoming refugees is not only a humanitarian act, it is also an investment that can yield significant economic benefits. Investing €1 in welcoming refugees could yield nearly €2 in economic benefits within five years, said a Tent Foundation report. EUobserver reports: https://euobserver.com/business/133474

A deadline to grant Turkey visa-free travel to the EU will be missed at the end of the June with no new date announced, reports EUobsever: https://euobserver.com/migration/133840

The Budgets Committee [of the European Parliament] will vote today on the Draft Amending Budget 2 (DAB 2/2016) which reduces Member States' contributions to the 2016 EU budget thanks to a €1.3 billion surplus from 2015, says the European People's Party in a press release. The EPP Group Rapporteur, José Manuel Fernandes MEP, said: "Member States must use the opportunity of this reflow to honour their pledges in relation to the refugee crisis and to match the Union's contribution to the two dedicated Union Trust Funds [for Africa and the Syrian Crisis]": http://pr.euractiv.com/node/142738?nl_ref=14981497

EU rules to protect birdlife and habitats - under threat from a review driven by the European Commission's 'better regulation' strategy - are fit for purpose, according to leaked research that fuelled demands to leave the laws alone, reports EurActiv in what it claims as an exclusive. The Birds and Habitats directives are undergoing a Commission-helmed "fitness check" to ensure they are "fit for purpose" - a judgement based on if they are effective, efficient, coherent, relevant and have "EU added value": http://www.euractiv.com/section/climate-environment/news/commission-research-shows-nature-directives-dont-need-better-regulation/

Courtesy of Peter Mporries, European Movement in the North East