Category Archives: Brexit

Rebuilding trust is key to breaking the deadlock in EU-UK talks over a post-Brexit trade deal, Irish Taoiseach Michel Martin has told Euronews.

As discussions on a future relationship remain on a knife-edge, neither side is willing to give ground on crucial sticking points for fear of "one side getting an advantage over the other", according to Martin.

I think underlying all this is the necessity for trust, and to rebuild trust between the European Union and the United Kingdom," he told Euronews. I believe that the UK internal markets bill did erode trust."

The UK Internal Market Bill if fully applied would break international law and part of the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement that was designed to preserve the Good Friday peace agreement.

The EU says the offending legislation must be withdrawn before itll sign off on any new deal.

Yet time is running out to agree on a post-Brexit relationship and get it ratified by individual parliaments by the end of the year.

But the Taoiseach - equivalent of a prime minister - says there are ways around the ratification timeline and that the priority is to get an agreement.

Well, sometimes you can get a good result in extra time, he said. Our immediate focus, obviously, is in trying to make sure that the EU and the UK can arrive at a deal.

Europe has it within its capacity to develop proper ratification procedures. It is time to acknowledge that, as time is running out. But I do believe that with some degree of creativity, we can facilitate the ratification of a deal, perhaps on a staged basis."

More than 95% of the deal is complete. However, the outstanding areas such as fisheries, level playing field and governance continue to be difficult to resolve.

The EU lead negotiator Michel Barner has long complained the UK side has refused to engage on the fisheries issue for several months.

But the Taoiseach says its now or never.

Fisheries - the sides are very far apart, and it seems to me that a move has to be made to try and deal with the issue over the coming week.

On level playing field. I think we do all realise the fears on both sides in terms of one getting an advantage over the other in relation to the application of state aid and so forth.

But I do believe there is a landing zone on the level playing field that then leads into a dispute resolution mechanism that would enable both sides to react if one was undermining the agreement and in breach of the agreement.

I think underlying all this is the necessity for trust and to rebuild trust between the European Union and the United Kingdom.

Brexit has the danger still, and the capacity to heighten tensions within Northern Ireland.

That was my greatest fear when it happened. I mean, a majority of people within Northern Ireland voted against Brexit and to remain within the European Union. And a significant majority of citizens within Northern Ireland want to avail of the benefits of the European Union.

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Trust between EU and UK must be rebuilt to break Brexit deadlock, Irish PM tells Euronews - Euronews

Road signs at the Kent border welcoming drivers to the Garden of England have been defaced by anti-Brexit protesters to label the county the Toilet of England.

A group called EU Flag Mafia said they had used scissors and stickers to transform dozens of signs at 27 entry roads across the 90-mile county border.

The protest a reference to the likelihood of gridlock on carriageways due to Brexit leading to stranded motorists taking desperate measures by the roadside came as lorry traffic was brought to a standstill for the second time in a week on the approach road to Eurotunnel and the port of Dover.

An EU Flag Mafia spokesperson said: It is utter madness. Just this week they tested the border controls at Dover and there were tailbacks as far as the eye could see. There were even headlines about it in the New York Times. We are an international laughing stock. Something has to be done: there are already bottles of urine thrown in laybys and bags of excrement hanging off trees. It is all set to get much worse. People around here have had enough.

The five-mile queues to Dover earlier this week were blamed on a French rehearsal of Brexit checks. Fridays jams were put down to a combination of Christmas and Brexit stockpiling, according to Eurotunnel sources, and a reduced ferry service due to Covid.

Businessman Peter Cook, who organised the sign changes, said he was careful not to do any permanent damage: We did the lot [of the welcome signs]. We may have missed a couple of country roads, but I dont think we did. We excluded the M25 and the A2 because that would be seriously breaking the law to stop on a carriageway.

We took great care to produce signage that could be removed without a trace. We havent spray painted anything. We havent done anything criminally damaging. We have made a simple point with a non-invasive sticker. If the police want to take that up with us we can discuss that.

Kent Police said they had been made aware of criminal damage to road signs in the county and was making inquiries. The force also apologised to road users on Friday:

Sources said traffic was heavier than normal because of the number of trucks returning to the continent. They had been delivering stockpiles to British customers before custom declarations apply from 1 January.

The queues offer a glimpse of what could transpire in January when checks on both the UK and French sides are introduced, whether or not there is a trade deal.

France will introduce a suite of controls, including tests for regulatory compliance and food safety, and immigration and customs checks, while the UK has decided to phase in measures over six months to mitigate against estimated queues of up to 7,000 trucks in Kent.

The prospect of long Brexit queues in Dover is also concerning hauliers of goods between Ireland and the continent, who fearthey could be caught in the Brexit queues.

On Friday the Danish shipping company DFDS announced it would launch a daily service from a port in Wexford in Ireland to Dunkirk in France to get around the Brexit chaos.

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Kent rebranded 'toilet of England' by anti-Brexit protesters - The Guardian

Get Brexit done was the election slogan, yet the government focuses its attention, and the countrys, on Christmas, when its crucial to get a deal with the EU (No-deal Brexit to cost more than Covid, Bank of England governor says, 23 November). If a trade deal is not made before 31 December, Britain loses its right to freely import and export goods to the EU and, unless sufficient exports are made, it will be extremely difficult to fund imports.

The government is unlikely to get a trade deal before 31 December. So, to prevent chaos on 1 January, the government must publish which goods can be exported to the EU, and the duty payable on them, for exporters to know if it is possible, and profitable, to export goods.

But if the UK voluntarily ends a 40-year agreement in a manner that caused economic hardship to the EU, and Boris Johnson breaks a treaty he signed less than a year ago regarding the Irish border, many countries may be reluctant to sign a trade deal with the UK. A failure to obtain good trade deals could cause a run on the pound. Many challenges need to be addressed in the new year and, unless an EU deal is made, none will be any easier to resolve.Christopher LovejoyBeverley, East Riding of Yorkshire

Earlier this week I received, from Alok Sharma at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, letters for two of the charities for which I am the contact, asking if they are ready for the new rules for business with the EU. Neither charity does any business with the EU, though we accept donations in euros. Two questions for Mr Sharma: how many charities do business with the EU, and if he knows what the new rules are, why has he not told businesses what they are?Daniel FoxThaxted, Essex

Ian Bothams dismissive response to Vic Marks on their Brexit differences That doesnt matter, mate. We won encapsulates the stony landscape of politics over the past five years (Ian Botham at 65: I played the buffoon but listened more than I let on, 24 November). To win is to be able to shrug off questions, to reject legitimate concerns from others and simply declare supremacy. Bothams record as England Test cricket captain (played 12, won 0) gave an early indication that he is better suited to hitting things with a stick than engaging in complex matters of state. Mark McKergowEdinburgh

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The grim reality that is getting Brexit done - The Guardian

British holidaymakers, chalet owners and resort staff are in limbo as countries across Europe decide whether or not this winters ski season will go ahead.

This week, Britains biggest ski operator Crystal Ski Holidays was forced to cancel all its French ski trips in December after President Macron ordered the nations resorts to stay shut until the new year.

But a call by the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, for an EU-wide agreement to keep all European ski resorts closed until early January looks set to go unheeded by Switzerland, and possibly Austria.

Many staff who were due to travel out to resorts in the coming days to take up seasonal jobs have been told to stay at home. Meanwhile, those with holiday bookings for January and the busy February half-term are waiting to see whether their trips will go ahead.

Everythings up in the air with everyone waiting to see what each country decides to do in terms of reopening ski resorts, said Lynsey Devon, whose PR firm represents many of the big resorts across Europe.

We have already seen many of the big firms cancelling chalet-based ski holidays to prevent different groups mixing in the same accommodation, meaning that the number of chalet staff needed is way down.

Charlotte Kyle is one of those caught up in the uncertainty. In August, the 19-year-old from Surrey was offered a chalet hosting job with the firm Ski Famille, and was due to travel to the Alps next week.

Its all gone very quiet and Im not expecting to hear anything any time soon. I get the feeling that the ski firms are waiting like everyone else to hear whether the season will be going ahead. Its frustrating but what can you do? she said.

Ski resorts in France employ roughly 120,000 seasonal workers

Recent UK business casualties of the pandemic include the travel firm VIP Ski, which went into administration on 17 November, saying: It has proved impossible to navigate a way through this. Experts have warned there will be further business failures if resorts do not open after January.

Ski resorts in France employ roughly 120,000 seasonal workers, while in Italy, winter tourism provides jobs for 400,000 people, from ski instructors and hoteliers to restaurant owners.

This week, Crystal Ski Holidays, part of the Tui group, said that because of the impact of Covid-19 and the restrictions now in place, it would not be able to operate holidays to several European destinations, including Austria and Switzerland, or the US until mid-December. Trips to France were off before the end of the year. The company said holidays due to depart after these dates were scheduled to operate as planned, although it was continuing to monitor the situation.

Brighton-based Ski Beat specialises in chalet holidays in the French Alps, where it has 59 chalets. Laura Hazell, its sales and marketing director, said that while it had reduced its catered chalet provision for this season, it had expanded its self-catered programme due to strong demand from European and French domestic markets.

The company said that as things currently stood, it had about 30 chalet hosts, reps and other seasonal resort staff going to France towards the end of December, with the aim of starting work in January. The firm has also opened bookings for the 2021-22 ski season six months earlier than usual.

Diane Palumbo, the sales and marketing director at Skiworld, which describes itself as the UKs largest independent ski tour operator, said that with a Covid-19 vaccine seemingly on its way, the company was anticipating a busy February half-term, plus a potential mini boom in Easter bookings.

She added: A lot of customers are now booking for 2021. I was just on the phone to the resort operators in Mribel [in the French Alps]. They are saying all the right things the infection rate appears to be falling. Its like the UK there will be areas where travel is restricted and the same will emerge in France.

Even before the latest coronavirus developments, Brexit had dealt a major blow to British employees seeking seasonal work as chalet hosts, bar staff and instructors in European ski resorts.

Barring an 11th-hour reprieve, from 1 January they are likely to find it more difficult to obtain work because the rules for Britons applying for seasonal jobs in EU countries such as France will become much more onerous.

Under the existing arrangements, UK staff who are working in the resorts before 31 December can remain in their jobs for the entirety of the 2020-21 ski season but if the ski slopes in countries such as France are off-limits until January (or later), this puts companies in a very difficult position.

Meanwhile, high-end estate agents are insisting there is still a strong appetite among well-heeled Britons for buying properties in the Alps with Covid-19 putting the spotlight on the health and wellness benefits of living in the mountains.

Knight Frank runs a ski property price index, and last month said that overall this had increased by 1.2% in 2020, suggesting that Covid-19 has had little impact on prices to date.

Scotlands ski resorts will be open for Christmas and new year, unlike the shuttered resorts of the Alps. But before ardent skiers flock to the Cairngorms, theres a small problem. At the mountain ranges biggest ski centre, Glenshee, the head of ski patrolling, Karen Hunter, said: Im looking out of my window here and right now theres not one flake of snow to be seen.

Glenshee formally opens on 19 December, while Glencoe in the west of Scotland opens its first chairlift on 5 December. Live together, ride together is the motto on the mountains, with skiers told they can only share a chairlift if the other person is within their household. Ski clothing can no longer be hired, while boots and skis must be booked in advance.

Access to the mountains will also be limited: Glencoe has a usual maximum of 1,500 skiers a day but is cutting that to only 500-600 each day this year.

Scotlands ski season tends to begin late, with the slopes receiving their first proper cover in mid- to late January. But the season also lasts later into the year so the first lockdown in March was a major blow.

We had to shut on 22 March, even though we could have run the lifts until 15 May, said Andy Meldrum, the managing director of Glencoe.

He is confident of an early start this year, saying the resorts snow machines will ensure that we open on 19 December irrespective of the weather.

But the Scottish resort operators candidly acknowledge that it is no replacement for a weeks holiday in the Alps.

Scottish skiing is completely different its more about sport than holidaying, Meldrum said. The Covid issue for the Alps is that they will see thousands of people descend on a small village for a week at a time. In Scotland its more last-minute. Youll see the snow is good, grab a day off work and dash up from Glasgow. Or, as Hunter puts it: When its good, its like nowhere else in the world. But when its bad its unspeakably awful.

The tiering system presents problems. Glenshee is tier 2 on its Aberdeen side and tier 3 on its Perthshire side, while Glencoe in the Highlands is tier 1.

Despite the challenges, operators say forward bookings such as lift season passes are holding up well.

Skiing in Scotland is remarkably good value compared with the Alps. A day pass in Glenshee is only 32, half the price of a typical day pass in the Alps, while skis and boot hire add another 24.

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UK ski holiday firms in limbo as Covid restrictions and Brexit bite - The Guardian

In addition, the UK will cease to be party to a number of other international instruments as a result of its departure from the EU. These include the European Enforcement Order (EEO) regime, for the enforcement of uncontested such as default judgments across the EU, except in Denmark; and the Lugano Convention 2007, to which the UK has been a party as a result of EU membership and which governs questions of jurisdiction and enforcement between the UK and the EFTA states.

It is now increasingly apparent that there is unlikely to be an overarching EU/UK deal on these issues before the end of the transition period. In addition, it is now too late for the UK to achieve its 'next best case scenario' of accession in its own right to the Lugano Convention, which although not perfect would go a considerable way towards filling the 'gap' left by Brussels Recast in relation to jurisdiction and enforcement across the EU, as well as maintaining the position as regards the EFTA states. Re-joining the Lugano Convention requires EU consent, which may not be given; and even if it is given, that would be followed by a 3 month 'time lag' before the UK would actually be a party to the Convention again.

There is therefore going to be at least a period of time from 1 January 2021 onwards when there will be gaps in the jurisdiction and enforcement regimes. The only regimes which will apply between the UK and EU or the EFTA states during this period will be:

More detail on these topics is set out in our guide to Brexit and dispute resolution.

While the replacement arrangements discussed above will provide workable solutions in many cases, this more patchwork approach clearly has the potential to be more time consuming and costly than the current regimes; and some cases and jurisdictions may present less easily surmountable hurdles, particularly around enforcement.

Similarly, service of UK court proceedings in the EU and EFTA states post-31 December 2020 will be affected, as existing service rules in the UK refer to factors such as whether the Brussels Recast Regulation or Lugano Convention apply. It will, for example, more often be necessary in England, Wales and Northern Ireland to obtain the court's permission to serve proceedings out of the jurisdiction: such permission will generally be required unless there is an exclusive jurisdiction clause in favour of the English or Northern Irish courts. This involves an additional step in the litigation process and therefore an extra cost. In Scotland too, additional steps may be required more often.

As a result, it is important to consider now whether there are any steps you wish to take before 31 December 2020 to take advantage of existing regimes while you still can.

Consider whether you have any disputes, currently at pre-action stage, in which you might need to enforce a judgment against an opponent in the EU after 31 December 2020, or where you are concerned that another party might start proceedings against you in an EU court. If so, consider whether you may wish to institute proceedings before 31 December 2020, so that the Brussels Recast rules on jurisdiction and enforcement will apply. Although the position is not absolutely clear, in England and Wales and Northern Ireland issuing proceedings before 31 December 2020 is likely to be enough, while in Scotland it is probably also necessary to serve the proceedings before that date.

Instituting proceedings before 31 December 2020 may also assist where the EFTA states are involved, but this is less clear, as the UK/EU Withdrawal Agreement does not discuss the ongoing application of the Lugano Convention in such circumstances, although the UK and Norway have reached an agreement to address issues of enforcement between them.

While it is unlikely to be advisable to begin proceedings which you are not otherwise ready to litigate on these grounds alone, there may be some cases where instituting proceedings now is appropriate. Alternatively, you may wish to consider whether arbitration, which is unaffected by Brexit, would be a more suitable method of dispute resolution, and if so, whether the other party to the dispute would agree to this.

This requires specialist advice, often including foreign law advice as to the chances of successful enforcement of a judgment in the relevant jurisdiction if you were to need to enforce under that jurisdiction's national laws.

If you do wish or need to start UK court proceedings, or indeed have already started such proceedings, consider now the steps you will need to take to serve them validly on an opponent in the EU or EFTA states. This is important given the potential for increased complexity in this area.

In England, Wales and Northern Ireland, if your claim is for breach of a contract, check the contract to see whether service can be effected on an agent within the jurisdiction, in accordance with the relevant court rules note that the position is different in Scotland, and the relevant court rules on service should be consulted. If the contract does not contain a clause setting up an agent within the jurisdiction for the receipt of service, or your claim is not a contractual claim, take advice on whether it would still be possible to use other methods to serve the claim form or writ within the jurisdiction, for example on a branch office or a place where the defendant carries on business activities.

If none of these options apply and you will need to serve out of the jurisdiction, there will be no change to the UK procedural rules you will need to follow until 31 December 2020; for example, it is unlikely before that date that you will need to obtain the English or Northern Irish court's permission to serve within the EU or EFTA states. However, there are certain transitional issues which mean it may be more difficult to prove that the proceedings have actually been served, which may be particularly problematic if limitation or prescription periods are in issue. This will need to be navigated with care and specialist advice.

If you have an unenforced UK judgment which you may wish to enforce in an EU member state or one of the EFTA states after 31 December 2020, take advice as soon as possible. A judgment given already in a contested matter is likely to be enforceable in the EU after 31 December 2020 as the proceedings will, by definition, have commenced before that date.

However, as noted above, it is unclear whether the same will be true for enforcement in some of the EFTA states. In addition, enforcement of uncontested judgments, such as default judgments, may be harder in the future in some jurisdictions without the assistance of the EEO regime, but by applying for an EEO certificate under that regime before 31 December 2020, if appropriate, you would still be able to rely on the regime thereafter.

Now is a good time to review both precedent and existing contractual dispute resolution provisions.

If, for example, your standard form agreements contain an exclusive jurisdiction clause in favour of the courts of a UK jurisdiction, consider with the benefit of legal advice whether that remains appropriate. For contracts which are to be entered into on or after 1 January 2021, such clauses are likely to remain suitable in most cases, because they will generally be covered by the Hague 2005 Convention. However, as noted above, Hague 2005 does not apply to all types of contract, and may not apply to exclusive UK jurisdiction clauses agreed before 1 January 2021. Where Hague 2005 does not, or might not, apply, local law advice may be needed on a case-by-case basis as to how easy it would be to enforce a UK judgment in the likely jurisdiction for enforcement, and you might wish to note this in your precedents. You might also be advised to consider an arbitration clause as an alternative.

As a result of the issue identified above about whether Hague 2005 will apply to pre-1 January 2021 jurisdiction clauses, you may want to prepare to "re-agree", on or shortly after 1 January 2021, any pre-existing exclusive jurisdiction clauses on which you wish to continue to rely, provided of course that counterparties are amenable.

It is also now preferable, when dealing with EU or EFTA state counterparties, to include in contracts a service of process clause providing for service of any proceedings on an agent of the counterparty in the jurisdiction, to avoid any potential issues in relation to the service of documents in the EU/EFTA states.

This is a complex and fast-moving area, and strategic decisions about what steps to take, whether now or in the future, require specialist advice.

For more information or for assistance, please contact Julian Diaz-Rainey; Richard Dickman; Michael Fletcher; Jacqueline Harris; Andrew Herring; or David Kirkpatrick.

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Brexit and disputes what you need to do now - Out-Law.com

Michael Gove, the Cabinet Secretary, last week admitted that disruption at the Kent border was unavoidable, having previously only warned of two-day queues of 7,000 trucks as a reasonable worst-case scenario in a leaked letter to trade groups.

In addition to the immediate effects that will be experienced by firms that trade goods with the EU or have these materials in their supply chains as well as companies with business travellers Sally Jones, EYs Brexit strategy and trade leader, said that issues of regulatory compliance, data privacy and product conformity were likely to be disruptive.

There is an alarming number of businesses expecting business as usual after the transition period ends, despite the inevitability of significant disruption and upheaval, she added.

There have been comparisons made between Brexit and Y2K, the computer programming shortcut that was expected to cause extensive havoc as the year changed from 1999 to 2000, but Brexit is a fundamentally different challenge for business.

Y2K presented a specific problem with a defined date that failed to materialise thanks to hard work from dedicated IT teams. Brexit is a process that will likely challenge businesses for weeks if not months following the end of the transition period on Dec 31.

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Four fifths of businesses worry that they are not ready for Brexit - Telegraph.co.uk

UK factories could be making up to 4.8bn more goods for British retailers in the next 12 months as the coronavirus pandemic and Brexit prompt businesses to bring home production.

The additional orders, largely of food and fashion but potentially including DIY products and homewares, would be equivalent to the countrys entire current clothing manufacturing output, according to a report by advisory firm Alvarez & Marsal and research group Retail Economics.

Signs of the trend have already emerged with online fashion site Asos making its new lower-priced AsYou range at approved factories in Leicester, and Ted Baker announcing its Made in Britain range this month.

Retail businesses are making changes after the pandemic highlighted structural weaknesses in global supply chains which can be slow to adapt to sudden increases or drops in demand caused by shock events or rapidly changing consumer tastes.

The possibility of a no-deal Brexit under which tariffs as high as 80% could be introduced on some meat and dairy products, 12% on clothing and 16% on footwear has also prompted retailers to consider alternative options, according to the report.

Consumer and investor demand for more sustainability is also playing a big role in the change as the environmental cost of shipping goods from the far east, with many ending up unwanted, is now being factored in. Seven in 10 of the retailers surveyed for the report said they had already started changing the way they sourced goods to meet green or ethical targets, the report said.

In Wales, 70 former Laura Ashley sewers have returned to the clothing industry at a new factory in Powys, where ethical supplier Fashion Enter is making clothes for Asos and has just landed a contract with online clothing specialist N Brown, the owner of Simply Be.

Jenny Holloway, the chief executive of Fashion Enter which also has a factory in north London, said business was up by more than a third this year. She said retailers were looking for more responsive supply close to home, after the uncertainties of the pandemic highlighted the inflexibility of shipping clothing from Asia.

Its commercial suicide to back long lead-time stock at the moment. Retailers are getting closer and closer to the season, she said. There is no way I would have opened the factory in Wales unless I was certain theres a long-term trend in coming back to the UK. Its exciting.

Meanwhile, over-50s fashion brand David Nieper is hiring 30 new dressmakers and investing 4.5m in a textile factory employing a further eight workers in its home town of Alfreton in Derbyshire, where it will print and dye its own fabrics.

Christopher Nieper, the chief executive of David Nieper, said: Manufacturing in Britain makes business accountable and allows control over each step of the production process.

Offshoring manufacturing is essentially offshoring responsibility and indeed pollution. Currently two-thirds of emissions from UK clothing occur overseas. Its not acceptable to shift the problem to where its out of sight and out of mind.

In Kent, fruit and vegetable crisp maker Nims Fruit Crisps, has seen business surge 20% this year despite taking a severe knock from the Covid crisis.

Nimisha Raja, the chief executive of Nims, said the company had been forced to switch to selling dried fruit and vegetables as ingredients for fellow snack makers and dried fruit for pubs, bars and gin fans to use in drinks, after the lunchtime takeaway market was hit by the shift to working from home.

The shift by retailers is only part of wider changes in supply chains prompted by Covid and Brexit.

Tony Hague, the chief executive of PP Control & Automation, is part of the UK manufacturing Unite group which offers a dating service for manufacturers looking to work together to bring production home. Started in response to the Covid ventilator challenge, the group now has 300 members.

Its not a short term thing, he said. It takes a lot of time and effort to move a supply chain back to the UK. You dont just do it for a few months.

More here:

Covid and Brexit could see UK manufacturers bringing it all back home - The Guardian

Living on a stunning Cyclades Island, in a sugar cube house with sweeping views of the Aegean Sea, was a dream come true for novelist David Young from Twickenham, when he settled on the Greek island of Syros several years ago. Like thousands of second-home owners in Greece and elsewhere in Europe however, Davids dream could turn into a nightmare on January 1, 2021 when Schengen rules, limiting the amount of time he can spend in his foreign bolthole, come into force.

Like me, many Brits divide their lives between two countries, but after Brexit unless they apply for full residency in the EU country where theyve bought their property, pay taxes there, and lose their NHS provision back home second-home owners will be limited to stays of a maximum of 90 days, says David, who set up Facebook group 180 Days in Greece to help fellow Britons affected by the new regulations.

With no flexibility for family illness, vital property maintenance or other emergencies, the 90/180 rule could also create major practical problems for second-home owners. In 2014, Stephen and Rosemary Moy from Kirstead near Norwich, spent 200,000 to have a house built on the island of Antiparos, where actor Tom Hanks has a second home.

We have caring responsibilities for our elderly parents who are now in their nineties, so we can only be away for a certain amount of time each year. We usually travel out to Greece twice a year via France, Switzerland and Italy in our campervan but the journey takes us about eight days each way, which means that after Brexit we could only spend about eight weeks per year in our property, they say.

Margaret Hibbit from Kidderminster, who bought and renovated a small stone house on the island of Crete in 1997, is also worried about the new visa rules. Since my husbands death I no longer live there full time, but I visit at least three times a year. Not being able to return for three months after spending 90 days in Crete causes great concern over maintaining my property, paying my bills and keeping it in good repair.

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Could Brexit signal the end of the road for second-home owners in Europe? - Telegraph.co.uk

News item | 27-11-2020 | 13:50

Creatives from the UK and the Netherlands came together in a virtual session on 25 November 2020 to discuss opportunities for, and threats to, future Anglo-Dutch cultural collaboration. In less time than it takes to drive from London to Birmingham, the nearly thirty participants from all over England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Netherlands had concluded a very successful session, coming up with some excellent analyses of what is required to maintain strong international cultural connections. It shows there are positives to the 'new normal' of meeting each other online. The useful input that was gathered during this meeting helps the Dutch Embassy in the UK, organiser of the event, to focus its efforts on facilitating bilateral cultural exchange.

The virtual meeting allowed people that would normally not be in a room together to share experiences and ideas, discussing some of the most pressing issues of this time for culture professionals in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

For instance, serious concerns were voiced that Brexit will reduce the cultural exchange between the UK and other European countries. Many culture professionals fear the end of free movement will result in fewer Dutch artists being programmed at UK venues, and vice versa, due to the extra costs and paperwork involved. We need to avoid cultural isolation and continue to build bridges. How to do that? International cultural exchange should focus more on longer term projects, such as artist residencies, was one of the suggestions. That makes more sense in light of Brexit, with all the extra paperwork and costs involved, which will be a challenge in particular for smaller cultural organisations with limited resources. Reducing the number of short trips, and focusing more on longer projects, is also important in light of the climate crisis.

'None of us want to go back to flying to another country for meetings that could also be done online.'

The digitalisation process prompted by Covid has taught cultural organisations and makers a few other lessons. In the break-out sessions about Digitalisation it was mentioned that discovering ways to present work virtually has enabled artists and organisations to reach new audiences, including audiences who would normally not have easy access to the arts due to their location or due to disabilities impacting their mobility. On the other hand, there was worry that the digitalisation process might have reduced the inclusivity of less internet-savvy people, such as elderly people. Crucially, it turns out to be nearly impossible to monetise digital cultural events. Hence, there was broad agreement that a completely digital future is no option. Nothing beats the live communal experience of gathering together. However, we need to retain an element of hybrid approaches to event delivery, blending in-person and virtual aspects.

'Nothing beats the live communal experience of gathering together.'

Before the pandemic struck, the topic of Diversity & Inclusion was high on the agenda in the cultural sector, both in the Netherlands and in the UK. A question posed to the participants in the zoom-session directors, curators, artists, designers, educators, promotors and other creatives; 75% calling in from the UK, 25% participating from the Netherlands was whether this topic was still relevant, or whether the crisis had pushed any developments back. Poll results showed that Diversity & Inclusion is now higher on the agenda than ever before. And because cultural organisations on both sides of the North Sea are actively looking for ways to be more diverse and inclusive, to work more with diverse communities, to adjust their programming accordingly and to appeal to wider audiences, there is ample opportunity for knowledge sharing between Dutch and British organisations. This is something where the Embassy could play a role, the break-out group discussing Diversity & Inclusion suggested. Curated events and facilitated processes that bring Dutch and British organisations together to share knowledge could be very helpful not just on this subject, but on many issues that organisations in both countries are dealing with.

'We have a greater thirst than ever for exchange, partnership and collaboration.'

The cultural sector has been dealt two major blows: a global pandemic leading to closures of cultural venues, cancellations of shows and substantial loss of income, and the end of free movement between the EU and the UK. There is still much uncertainty and fear among those working in the cultural sector on where all of this is going, but what was striking is that many participants in the zoom-session agreed that lessons have been learned and that the sector will adapt. This crisis has exposed some bad habits. We have to make sure we dont go back to normal. That doesnt mean we cease to be international. We have a greater thirst than ever for exchange, partnership and collaboration. It was mentioned that artists, practitioners, makers are agile by nature. They will adapt and find an audience for their work. We have to find ways to nourish that.

All the conclusions from the meeting are currently being collated and the Dutch Embassy in the UK will use this input to adapt its own strategy in continuously facilitating cultural exchange between the Netherlands and the UK. To this end, the Embassy is working with freelance cultural intendant Floor Cornelisse, with whom the meeting, and a survey in the run up to the meeting, were organised.

If you have any questions for the Culture Department of the Dutch Embassy in the UK, please contact us on lon-ppc@minbuza.nl.

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Creatives from UK and NL discuss how to adapt to Brexit and Covid - The Netherlands and You

AS the Brexit transition period draws to a close in the New Year, Pembrokeshire County Council is working closely with the Welsh Government, the Welsh Local Government Association and other organisations.

The authoritys aim is to minimise any potential for Brexit to negatively affect council services and the countys businesses and residents.

The transition period ends at 11pm on December 31 after which many changes come into effect.

To this end, the council is publicising a number of websites providing Brexit information.

They include:

https://www.pembrokeshire.gov.uk/business-advice-and-support/pembrokeshire-preparing-for-brexit

gov.wales/preparing-wales/

gov.uk/transition

EU and European Economic Area (EEA) citizens who need to apply for Settled Status can find support from Welsh Government and Home Office-funded organisations here:

eusswales.com/en/index.html

Meanwhile, public-facing frontline staff working in support organisations and local authorities throughout Wales are being made aware of the issues involved.

This will enable them to direct EU/EEA nationals and their family members who have queries to the appropriate specialist staff.

For public information on the Settlement Scheme go to: gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families

Pembrokeshire County Council also has a generic Brexit enquiry email address at: brexit@pembrokeshire.gov.uk

See the rest here:

Brexit: What you need to know in Pembrokeshire - Western Telegraph