{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"<iframe src=\"https://embed.acast.com/$/9a03fe9e-1ff0-4dcc-b3f6-50bd1f016ea4/a3f4d5de-da4a-4b66-840f-32b3b296694a?\" frameBorder=\"0\" width=\"700\" height=\"250\"></iframe>","title":"Brexit in the Age of Covid","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/6195701f2eacc3a36070252a/619570bccb3c660012e3cf5c.jpg?height=200","description":"<p>We have passed the deadline for any extension to the Brexit trade negotiations - now it's 31 December or bust.&nbsp;We catch up with three of our resident experts to explore what this means, what the chances are of getting a deal and where the sticking points might be.&nbsp;Plus we asses the impact of the Covid crisis on the fate of Brexit and its implications for what might happen later this year.&nbsp;With Anand Menon,</p><p>Catherine Barnard and Helen Thompson.</p><p><br></p><p>Talking Points:&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>The formal legal position is that it’s not possible to seek an extension of the Brexit transition period.</p><ul><li>Perhaps the most likely thing is that—if there is a trade deal before the end of the year—it has a longer transition period built into the front of it.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>A second COVID spike in the autumn could make no deal more likely.</p><ul><li>Are there things in the law that politics can’t fix?</li><li>The COVID crisis has made the gulf between the two sides over the issue of state aid bigger than it already was, which reduces the space for fudging.&nbsp;</li><li>You also have to deal with the Northern Ireland protocol.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>The UK doesn’t have a constitutional regime that protects things like workers rights and environmental standards in the way that treaty law effectively does in the EU.</p><ul><li>It’s hard to imagine that any UK government would agree constitutional rules about these matters as part of a trade agreement with the EU or any individual state.</li><li>At the heart of Brexit lies a claim to reassert the more traditional UK constitution against the constitutional constraints that EU membership generated.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>The Johnson government is not prepared to accept the EU’s argument about it’s economic sphere of influence.</p><ul><li>This is a question for the EU as much as it is for the UK.</li><li>Both sides are starting from competing premises; would more time be enough to sort this out?&nbsp;</li><li>This begs a larger question about the EU’s relationship to its immediate neighborhood.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>The German constitutional court decision was a blow to the ECB and ECJ.</p><ul><li>This gives the green light to those disaffected in Hungary and Poland.</li><li>Do EU divisions make it more or less likely that they will fallout over Brexit?&nbsp;</li><li>Macron’s position seems harder than it was towards the end of last year. There is no evidence he wants to move on the question of state aid.</li><li>It seems unlikely that all 27 member states will have the same attitude towards a sovereign UK. That doesn’t necessarily mean that Britain can play them off each other.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Couching the debate as deal vs. no deal instead of good deal vs. bad deal may give the Johnson government some wiggle room.</p><ul><li>Even if the UK winds up making significant concessions on trade, for example.</li></ul><p><br></p><p>Mentioned in this Episode:&nbsp;</p><ul><li><a href=\"https://www.talkingpoliticspodcast.com/blog/2020/245-europe-blows-up\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Talking with Adam Tooze about the German constitutional court ruling</a></li><li><a href=\"https://ukandeu.ac.uk/\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">The UK in a Changing Europe</a></li><li><a href=\"https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/26/for-europe-survive-economy-needs-survive-angela-merkel-interview-in-full\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">The Merkel interview from June&nbsp;</a></li></ul><p><br></p><p>Further Learning:</p><ul><li><a href=\"https://www.taxjournal.com/articles/state-aid-under-the-northern-ireland-protocol\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">George Peretz on the Northern Irish Protocol</a></li><li><a href=\"https://www.ft.com/content/cc23c73e-88e2-4c60-b2bf-36b241b5a101\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">More on state aid as a stumbling block</a></li><li><a href=\"https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/51180282\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">What is the level playing field?&nbsp;</a></li><li><a...","author_name":"David Runciman and Catherine Carr"}