Travel restrictions, border controls with Ireland if we leave EU
Border controls between the island of Ireland and Britain are inevitable if there is a Brexit, according to official sources on both sides of the Irish Sea. A strict new regime for travel between the two islands is already under consideration if the UK votes next month to leave the European Union, reports the Irish Times: http://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/border-controls-on-irish-entering-britain-inevitable-post-brexit-1.2665284
Fifty-one chief executives and chairmen have urged the UK to remain in the EU, reports EUobserver. "Europe without the UK would be weaker, just as the UK itself would be weaker outside Europe," said a letter from the European Roundtable of Industrialists. It was signed by bosses of firms including BP, Centrica, Vodafone, Rolls-Royce, Volvo and Shell: https://euobserver.com/tickers/133615
The UK's pharmaceutical regulator would lose influence over the European Medicines Agency (EMA) if Britons vote to leave the EU in a June referendum. As a result, it could well consider aligning itself with its US equivalent, sector advisors have told EurActiv.com. Experts say it is looking increasingly clear that the UK would lose the now London-based EMA if Britons vote to leave the EU in the looming 23 June referendum: http://www.euractiv.com/section/uk-europe/news/uk-pharma-sector-braced-for-regulatory-shake-up-after-brexit/?nl_ref=13914385
EU leaders promoting utopian "illusions" of a united Europe have lost touch with its peoples and risk losing out to Eurosceptic populists bent on breaking up the bloc, European Council President Donald Tusk said yesterday (30 May). EurActiv reports: http://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/at-epp-anniversary-summit-tusk-slams-utopian-illusions-of-united-europe/?nl_ref=13914385
The European Commission and the EU's agriculture ministers are in talks over a new targeted aid package for farmers, two senior diplomatic sources told POLITICO. The Commission is expected to announce some form of financial aid for farmers struggling with desperately low prices - particularly dairy and pigmeat farmers - at the June farm council meeting: https://dub129.mail.live.com/?tid=cm1c-iCZAm5hGtAQAhWtc6JA2&fid=flinbox
The EU's top administrative watchdog wants lobbyists in Brussels to face big fines for not following the rules in the EU joint transparency register, reports EUobserver: https://euobserver.com/institutional/133608
FRENCH ECONOMIC GROWTH BEATS EXPECTATIONS: French GDP increased by 0.6 percent in the first quarter of 2016, 0.1 percent more than the first estimate of 0.5 percent, reports Politico Morning Trade: https://dub129.mail.live.com/?tid=cmxfUUFO4m5hGXqAAhWtnfkg2&fid=flinbox
An economic sentiment indicator (ESI) produced by the [European] commission improved further to a reading of 104.7 in May from 104 previously, driven by consumers who are enjoying the benefits of weak inflation and falling unemployment, reports Politico Morning Exchange, quoting the FT. The commission said there was a particularly strong rise in confidence in France, which is showing signs of a sustained recovery despite still high unemployment and clashes between unions and the government over reforms to the jobs market: https://dub129.mail.live.com/?tid=cmZnvJCAIn5hGu_wAeC8pcLA2&fid=flinbox
Courtesy of Peter Morris, European Movement in North East