UK has best EU deal

Thanks to the "UK rebate" won by Margaret Thatcher, over the last three decades, the United Kingdom has been reimbursed more than €111 billion from the EU budget, EurActiv.com has learned. But as the campaign for the Brexit referendum is underway, the European Commission missed the chance to highlight the fact that the UK has the best deal with the EU: http://www.euractiv.com/section/uk-europe/news/the-thatcher-rebate-uk-reimbursed-in-excess-of-e111-billion-by-eu-since-1985/?nl_ref=13404396

[With a] Brexit vote, the Nissan factory [at Sunderland] could become a lesson in the pitfalls of redrawing the map, says the New York Times. Nissan, it reports, has been weighing Sunderland against other plants in France and Spain as it seeks a place to develop a new version of a popular sport utility vehicle. If Sunderland is not in the union, that could increase the cost of imported parts while making its finished vehicles more expensive in European markets. "Our preference as a business is, of course, that the U.K. stays within Europe - it makes the most sense for jobs, trade and costs," Carlos Ghosn, Nissan's chairman and chief executive, said in a written statement. "A position of stability is more positive than a collection of unknowns": http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/22/business/international/brexit-referendum-eu-economy.html?emc=edit_ee_20160522&nl=todaysheadlines-europe&nlid=74103272

European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker said that if Britons voted to leave the EU in June, "deserters will not be welcome with open arms". "The UK will have to accept to be considered as a third country, which we will not butter up," Juncker told Le Monde newspaper, picked up by EUobserver: https://euobserver.com/tickers/133494

French Finance Minister Michel Sapin warned that Britain is deluding itself if it thinks it can keep the advantages of European Union membership outside the bloc, as he said Brexit would have far-reaching consequences for both the U.K. and Europe. Bloomberg reports: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-20/france-warns-u-k-on-illusion-of-keeping-advantages-outside-eu

At 5:30 p.m. U.K. time [23 May], the EU's commissioner for financial services will say (according to a copy of his speech seen by Politico Playbook): "It's the single market that connects the U.K. as a financial centre to the rest of the European economy … I am working to strengthen and deepen that market … [A Brexit] could leave our financial services industry without its passport … if Britain leaves it is certain that there will be barriers to trade and that will damage the British economy, jobs and growth": https://dub129.mail.live.com/?tid=cmKYmBY6Ag5hGmvgAjfeQXsg2&fid=flinbox

According to Global Infrastructure Investor Association head Andy Rose, members of his organisation, including Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, see Europe as an attractive place to invest, reports EurActiv. But, he warned, the upcoming Brexit referendum is causing negative "short-term effects": http://www.euractiv.com/section/energy/interview/investors-warn-uk-referendum-already-causing-a-short-term-effect/?nl_ref=13404396

FARAGE CALLS VOTE LEAVE LEADERS 'CRETINS:' The UKIP leader feels unfairly sidelined, reports Politico [following up a Guardian interview]. https://dub129.mail.live.com/?tid=cmKYmBY6Ag5hGmvgAjfeQXsg2&fid=flinbox

Half of the European Union's member states on Monday (22 May) called for the removal of barriers to the free flow of data both within and outside the 28-nation bloc to ensure the continent can benefit from new data-driven technologies, reports EurActiv. In a letter to the European Commission and the Netherlands - which holds the rotating EU presidency - ministers from countries including Poland, Britain, Sweden and Finland urged Brussels to make sure regulation is not a barrier to the development of data-driven technologies and to avoid one-size-fits-all rules for online platforms such as Amazon and Facebook: http://www.euractiv.com/section/digital/news/eu-countries-call-for-the-removal-of-barriers-to-data-flows/?nl_ref=13404396

The state and government leaders of the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the U.K. [the G7] as well as European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and Council President Donald Tusk will discuss how they can work together to protect workers in their respective countries against unfair foreign trade practices when they meet this week in Japan, a White House official said. Politico Morning Trade reports: https://dub129.mail.live.com/?tid=cmz9DsvaMg5hGZFQAhWtgkCg2&fid=flinbox

Philippine trade negotiators meet their [EU] counterparts today for a first round of trade talks, five months after they were announced, but nobody expects a cakewalk, says Politico Morning Trade: https://dub129.mail.live.com/?tid=cmz9DsvaMg5hGZFQAhWtgkCg2&fid=flinbox

Senior MEPs have warned the military junta ruling Thailand that the country must return to "free and fair elections" or risk the future of all EU-Thailand relations, reports EurActiv: http://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/news/eu-to-thailand-free-and-fair-elections-or-face-consequences/?nl_ref=13404396

Two EU agencies that have been on opposite sides of a heated debate over encryption just agreed on limits to law enforcement agencies' access to private data, reports EurActiv: http://www.euractiv.com/section/digital/news/eu-cybersecurity-and-police-chiefs-reach-breakthrough-agreement-on-encryption/?nl_ref=13404396

The EU would have "the second most powerful military" in the world if its members pooled its resources, insisted the co-director of the Institute of Studies on Conflict and Humanitarian Action in an interview with EurActiv Spain: http://www.euractiv.com/section/global-europe/interview/conflict-analyst-eu-would-have-second-most-powerful-military-on-earth/?nl_ref=13404396

Courtesy of Peter Morris, European Movement in North East