Which is probably why the EU set April 12 as the deadline. That’s probably the latest date that they could re-jig the nominations for the May elections, if the UK asks for a longer extension and to stay in past the elections.
Will still be a pig’s ear to get it all fixed in time for the May elections, but I assume that’s the reason for that deadline.
This, exactly. There will be a European Council on 10 April at which the UK will make a pitch for any extension of the Art 50 notice period beyond 12 April which they wish to seek. If the Council is minded to agree to an extension (this is not a shoe-in; it depends on how long the extension is to be and what the additional time is to be used for) then the deal will that on 11 April the UK takes the legal steps to put in train the process of participating in the Parliament elections, so that that will already have been done when the extension is formally granted on 12 April.
Are EU Elections list-based PR? That would presumably be easier to update for a reallocation than individual constituencies.
The elections are based on proportion representation, but countries are free to choice a list system or STV. Also some countries (including the UK) are divided into a multiple member constituencies instead of the whole country being one constituency.
And the UK uses a party-list system in constituencies in Great Britain, and the single transferrable vote in Northern Ireland (which is a single constituency returning 3 members).
Fight my ignorance. What would membership of the EU’s customs union mean for trade in services? Given that services is the one part of the economy that the UK excels in, that seems quite important.
Not a lot. The main feature of a customs union is that it elminates tariffs on intra-union trade, but services tend not to attract tariffs in the first place, so a customs union doesn’t do much to improve things.
Trade in services is subject to non-tariff barriers. If I have a banking licence in country A, that doesn’t authorise me to take deposits or make loans in country B. My licence to practice law in country A is no use in country B. And so forth. A customs union generally does little or nothing to eliminate barriers of this kind. What trade in services requires is regulatory alignment (so that a service provider who has the skills, competence, liability insurance, etc required in country A will also have the skills, competence, insurance required in country B), reciprocal recognition of regulatory regimes or the acts and decisions of of regulators, common standards, that kind of thiing. Free trade in services also requires a high degree of mobility of labour, so if an accountant in country A gets the contract to audit the accounts of a company in country B, he will be free actually to go to country B to provide the service contracted for. All of this is the province of the Single Market.
So what those in the UK who trade in services would really like is for the UK to remain a member of the Single Market. Remaining in the Customs Union offers them limited benefits.
The single market in services is not as well established as those in the other freedoms. It’s one of the things the UK was always pushing for.
“While the single market for goods is well-developed, the services market is still widely recognised as not having achieved its full potential. The Services Directive should have increased transparency and made it easier for businesses and consumers to buy and sell. But some years after the deadline for implementation, barriers still remain.”
Here we go again. The House is now considering a winnowed-down indicative vote list. Voting after 9pm GMT, it looks like
Here’s the options the Speaker has selected
Motion C: Customs union - Proposer: Ken Clarke, Conservative
Motion D: ‘Common Market 2.0’ - Proposer: Nick Boles, Conservative
Motion E: Confirmatory public vote - Proposers: Peter Kyle and Phil Wilson, Labour
Motion G: Parliamentary supremacy - Proposer: Joanna Cherry, Scottish National Party
Motion D is the interesting one. In a change to the first vote, Labour and SNP are now whipping for this option, giving it a real chance.
If I find a handy summary of the detail of these options, I’ll post it.
There’s a naked protest in the public gallery. The House stoically continues the debate, with only a *few * wry references to “the bottom line”, “the naked truth” and “cheeky intervention”.
Thanks. So the Labour proposal for membership of the (or a?) custom union is actually a long way short of BRINO?
That is, we lose our democratic representation in the European Parliament, lose our political influence in the other institutions, and we lose our access to the market in services. And all so that instead of having Romanian and Bulgarian seasonal workers temporarily resident to pick vegetables, we have African and Asian seasonal workers permanently resident?
Could someone remind me why we’re leaving again… 
The Chief Political Correspondent of The Guardian tweets:
It’s climate change protesters apparently.
They must figure that Parliament has already established the precedent for showing their asses in public…
I haven’t seen a British exit this embarrassing since Hugh Grant was told to step out of the car, sir.
Did you expect them to take a French leave ? Think, man, think.
All presented options have been rejected. Again.
Verstuurd vanaf mijn moto g(6) met Tapatalk
Three of the four came close though. The customs union one was three votes short.
One curious connection that Brexit had (has) with climate change deniers:
The point being here that while those protesters are complaining about mostly inaction from the British government regarding climate change, those protesters must be aware also about the powerful interests that also funded the yes Brexit vote and those interests would like to see a hard Brexit so as to make it easier to ignore new European plans to deal with the issue.
Fucking useless arseholes. No Deal is more likely now.
Nick Boles quits the Tories in disgust
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Seems like the chances of a united Ireland are skyrocketing. As are the chances of an independent Scotland.