Latest news with #TradeandCooperationAgreement
Daily Mirror
2 days ago
- General
- Daily Mirror
Brit wanted for 'drug trafficking' arrested abroad after five year manhunt
Francis Coggins, 60, of Huyton, Liverpool, had been at the centre of a five year manhunt when he was held outside a residential property in the coastal town of Zandvoort on Tuesday A British fugitive wanted for international drug trafficking has been arrested in Holland ending a five-year manhunt. Francis Coggins, 60, was held outside a residential property in the coastal town of Zandvoort on Tuesday by officers from the Dutch National Police. He was taken into custody after ongoing work between the National Crime Agency, the North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (ROCU) and the Dutch National Police. It is understood that he has been wanted for the last five years. Coggins, of Huyton, Liverpool, was wanted by the North West ROCU on a TACA warrant (Trade and Cooperation Agreement) for allegedly smuggling heroin and cocaine. He appeared at court in Amsterdam on Wednesday to begin the process of extradition to the UK and he was remanded to appear again on a date to be confirmed. Gill Duggan, head of Europe at the NCA said: 'The agency has been working extensively with the ROCU and our international partners to trace Coggins and return him to the UK. "It does not matter where fugitives go. The agency's reach and strong relationships with international partners mean we will always tenaciously pursue those wanted by law enforcement.' Detective Superintendent Zoe Russo from the North West ROCU said: 'This arrest demonstrates our commitment to ensuring that individuals wanted for serious offences, whether in the UK or abroad, are brought to justice. We work closely with international law enforcement partners to track down and apprehend fugitives, no matter where they try to hide. The message is clear: if you are wanted, we will find you.'
Daily Record
28-05-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Record
New DVLA rule means drivers can be hit with unpaid EU fines
Since Brexit. there has been no formal system allowing foreign governments to impose fines on UK drivers. Drivers could be hit with huge unpaid traffic fines after the UK agreed a landmark deal with the European Union. The new 'reset' deal, which was confirmed last week, will allow the UK and European Union to 'set up automated searching of vehicle registration data'. Since the UK's departure from the EU, there has been no formal system allowing foreign governments to impose fines on UK drivers and until now motorists have not been issued with postal fines for minor driving offences committed in the EU. However, under the 'Internal security and judicial cooperation' section of the new agreement, section 53 outlines plans to reinforce mutual exchanges of data between the EU and the UK. It also stated: "Acknowledge the requirement in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement to set up automated searching of vehicle registration data." This means drivers can be issued with a fine while travelling in Europe if they are stopped by police in EU member states, even after Brexit, reports Birmingham Live. And it means motorists who leave the country they are visiting with unpaid fines face a new crackdown as their details will now be able to be found. According to the agreement, changes could be introduced for fingerprints, DNA, and criminal records of third-country nationals After shaking hands on the deal with the EU's Ursula von der Leyen in London last week, the Prime Minister said: "Britain is back on the world stage. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. 'It gives us unprecedented access to the EU market, the best of any country … all while sticking to the red lines in our manifesto.' Von der Leyen described it as 'a historic moment … opening a new chapter in our unique relationship'. The documents published on the Labour Party government website in the wake of the deal also stated: "Acknowledge the requirement in the Trade and Cooperation Agreement to set up automated searching of vehicle registration data." Rachel Reeves said Monday's agreement was 'the best deal with the EU for any country' and would show 'Britain now is the place to put investment and do business, because we've got preferential deals with the biggest economies'. Starmer said he wanted UK holidaymakers to be able to use e-gates in EU countries 'as soon as possible', but the final move will be up to individual states. 'There's no inhibition on this, so I want to see it done quickly,' he said. 'For holidaymakers wanting to get out this summer they will want to know that they can do so easily and without delay and chaos.' Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch said: 'This deal is taking us to the past and that is why we call it surrender.' She stopped short of saying she would rip up the terms of the deal, saying only that she would seek to renegotiate should the Tories return to power.
Irish Examiner
27-05-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
How the UK-EU deal turns the page on Brexit — and what happens next
At their first bilateral summit since Brexit, UK and EU leaders set out a range of areas where they will seek to forge closer ties. European Council president António Costa, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and British prime minister Keir Starmer hailed the agreement as a historic landmark deal that opens a new chapter in the EU-UK relationship. But it is only the beginning of — potentially long — negotiations to thrash out the details of closer cooperation in areas like trade, youth mobility and energy. As the two parties sit down at the negotiating table, they will, for the first time since Brexit, agree on how to make trade and cooperation easier. For example, one anticipated agreement will align UK food safety and animal health standards with those of the EU, thereby removing the need for most border checks and ease the flow of agriculture and food products between the two parties. And the expected youth mobility scheme will allow young people to travel, work and study in the EU and the UK for a limited period of time. The looming negotiations will be relatively narrow in scope. The Withdrawal Agreement and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement still provide the basis for the EU-UK relationship. The UK is not compromising on its red lines of not joining the single market, the customs union or allowing free movement of people. From left, European Council president Antonio Costa, British prime minister Keir Starmer and president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen during a press conference at the end of the UK-EU summit. The negotiations will consequently not fundamentally alter the current relationship. While the impact of the agreements may be significant for specific sectors, the overall economic impact is expected to be relatively modest. This is not to say the upcoming negotiations will be easy or void of controversies. Over the next months, negotiators will have to agree on quotas, time limits, exceptions and financial contributions. Compromises and trade-offs will have to be found. Domestic resistance There will be domestic resistance on both sides. Concerns have already emerged that France might oppose the participation of British defence companies in EU defence procurement programmes. And in the UK, critics argue the decision to dynamically align UK rules and standards with those of the EU in certain sectors will make the country a rule-taker once again. But the answer to the question on many people's minds: 'Will this bring us back to all those years of difficult and protracted Brexit negotiations?' is no — this time around, things are different. In comparison with the Brexit negotiations, these negotiations should be far easier and swifter. They are less consequential and backed by strong political will from both sides. Recent polling indicates both Britons and EU citizens favour a closer relationship between the UK and the EU. The agreement reached at the summit is seen as the first concrete manifestation of Starmer's long sought-after reset of the relationship. The Brexit negotiations focused on establishing less cooperation compared with when the UK was a member of the EU. It was a question of addressing increasing barriers to trade and cooperation — something many perceived as a lose-lose situation. The upcoming negotiations, on the other hand, are seen to lead towards a win-win reset of relations. The parties enter the negotiations with a mindset of finding solutions that increase trade and facilitate cooperation. The UK is now negotiating as an independent, sovereign country. During the Brexit negotiations, the UK was an EU member (or a closely aligned former member in the case of the negotiations of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement). It was thus important for the EU to make the benefits of membership clear and to discourage other members from leaving. As a result, it drove a hard bargain and the UK had limited influence on the negotiations. However, unlike the UK — where Brexit has never fully disappeared from the political debate — the EU moved on quickly after Brexit. In Brussels, many now consider the UK an independent but like-minded strategic partner. This is seen not least in the area of security, where the two parties agreed on a security and defence partnership. They set out a framework for closer cooperation in areas of joint interest, such as sanctions, information sharing and cybersecurity, and allowing them to better respond to shared global challenges and uncertainties. Zooming out, the geopolitical picture has changed dramatically since the Brexit negotiations. With the war in Ukraine and the resulting instability in Europe, combined with the shifting priorities of US foreign policy, there is now an even greater need for EU-UK cooperation. The Conversation
New Statesman
23-05-2025
- Business
- New Statesman
Can Labour take the credit for falling energy bills?
Photo bySpark up the central heating and get the tumble dryer on: energy bills will fall by 7 per cent in July, when Ofgem will reduce its price cap by £129 a year for a typical household. This underlines why the cutting of the £200 Winter Fuel Allowance is such an odd point for Labour to be losing voters on. It had already lost 45 per cent of its value (in real terms) since it was introduced; most of the people receiving it didn't need it; and its impact on bills is small compared to wholesale prices. By July, the price cap will be £2,559 lower than it was in January 2023. On the other hand, our government can't do much (in the short term) to change the wholesale price of energy, of which we are a net importer. This is why Keir Starmer has described the UK's new agreement with the EU this week as 'good for bills': less friction on imports of food could mean lower food bills, and a new relationship on energy might mean lower energy bills. Although on this second point, things are less certain. At first glance, the most impactful part of the agreement seems to be the commitment to 'explore in detail' the idea that the UK could join the EU's internal electricity market. There is a clear relationship to bills here: since we left the EU, we've been disconnected from its trading platforms. This caused some inefficiency when electricity was traded between the EU and the UK, which did lead to slightly higher energy prices for us (by about two per cent). So it seems that undoing this would have the opposite effect: our electrons would rejoin the EU, French and Dutch electrons would come here for a summer – it would all be very 2015 inside the wires. The snag is that we have already been trying to make this happen for nearly five years. The Trade and Cooperation Agreement the UK signed in December 2020 contains a commitment to find a way for the UK to trade energy as if it was in the EU's internal market. Efforts to make that happen have 'failed spectacularly', says Tom Edwards, principal modeller at the energy analyst Cornwall Insight. The reason this has failed, says Edwards, is that the European energy market is highly interconnected; a central algorithm governs the way power flows across borders, and efficient scheduling of trades between countries is 'basically impossible' without joining the algorithm. Can we just sign up to the European algorithm? 'We can't take part in that algorithm,' Edwards told me; one of its core principles is that it is limited to members of the internal market. 'They'll never agree to let us be part of it if we don't agree to join the Customs Union.' That sounds fairly unlikely. But as a consolation prize, we can definitely rejoin Europe's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). An ETS is a means for companies which emit a lot of carbon to buy carbon credits from other people who remove carbon. (A bit like if you burned down a library, but also paid for a new one – it would be fine and no one would mind, right?) The only issue here is that leaving the EU actually made carbon credits cheaper in the UK, which has traded carbon at a lower price than Europe for the last five years. Rejoining Europe's ETS will mean European businesses can buy carbon credits from the UK again, which will push up the price of UK carbon credits. For a major emitter such as a gas power station, these credits are the second-biggest cost after fuel. This won't necessarily mean higher bills – the energy industry is actually in favour of it, because they're more worried about the extra costs of the EU's new cross-border carbon tax, and their position is that a bigger, more efficient market for carbon should help sort this out. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe Again, there is not a huge amount that politics alone can do about the price of energy in the short term. In the long term there is a great deal politics can do (stimulate the production of lots of cheap new energy). But the wholesale price will remain in charge. This piece first appeared in the Morning Call newsletter; receive it every morning by subscribing on Substack here [See also: Inside the Conservative Party's existential spiral] Related
Scotsman
22-05-2025
- Business
- Scotsman
Why Scottish fishermen see Keir Starmer as the new Boris Johnson
Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... 'The third Prime Minister after Edward Heath and [Boris] Johnson to betray the industry.' If you were looking for a summation of the feelings towards Keir Starmer from the Scottish fishing fleet this week, you could not do much better than this from Elspeth MacDonald, chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen's Federation. It is not hard to see why. Fishermen were hoping for a reset after the incompetence of the previous Tory government in protecting their interests. Instead, Keir Starmer's government has rolled over current arrangements for fishing until 2038. I fear that Labour have not yet grappled with the sense of betrayal that is building in fishing communities as a result. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Perhaps we should not be surprised, however, given that in his evidence to the parliamentary committee that I chair this week, UK Cabinet minister Steve Reed seemed to think that this was in fact a 'reasonably good deal for the UK fishing sector'. This is, to put it mildly, not an entirely universal opinion along the coastline of the United Kingdom. Keir Starmer and Boris Johnson have gone down in British fishing history as two of the three Prime Ministers to 'betray' the industry (Picture: Toby Melville/WPA pool) | Getty Images Fishing's preferred outcome Mr Reed also believed that yearly negotiations – the default status to which we would have reverted next year under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement – would have been 'very damaging' for the industry. That would be news to fishing organisations themselves, who said from the start that yearly negotiations were their first preference as an outcome, as it would give maximum leverage over quota going forward – and that this leverage should only be conceded in return for a higher proportion of quota in the long term. It can be challenging to negotiate successfully when you do not even know your own side's interests. Criticism of this agreement is not hard to come by – though it often seems to come from those who have a pretty poor record of understanding or standing up for fishing interests. Nigel Farage, of Reform, condemned the deal from a safe distance while on holiday in France – no doubt the local poissonniers appreciated his custom. We should not really be surprised given that, when I led a debate on the fishing industry in Parliament last year, not a single Reform MP could be bothered to show up. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Tory mistakes won't be forgotten The Tory response was even more brass-of-neck, given that Starmer's deal on fisheries replicates exactly their own cackhanded agreement of 2020 – they must think fishermen have short memories indeed. It is precisely their own mishandling of negotiations five years ago which has given Labour political cover to make the deal that they did. Now the stench of Boris Johnson's bungled 2020 agreement will linger over us for a generation. If there is a silver lining to this dark deal for fishermen, it will be in reduced red tape for trade and some stability for key export markets in the EU. Those meagre gains, however, are still far from the 'sea of opportunity' that was offered in the past. Fishermen are past tired of false promises from parties which use our coastal communities as political props, to be abandoned when they are no longer convenient. Keir Starmer may not make quite as bombastic an impression as Boris Johnson did, but the sense of betrayal amongst fishing communities is burning just as fiercely.
