Matrix’s Legal Support Service provides a weekly round-up of Brexit-related links and news.

The UK’s post-Brexit deal with the EU

1. A fresh Brexit row is brewing over claims that Brussels has deliberately made it harder for British defence firms to bid for work under a flagship new fund.
2. According to insiders, the UK Government’s preparations for a ‘no deal’ Brexit have ground to a halt, making it almost impossible for Theresa May to walk out of negotiations with the EU, weakening her threat.
3. Michel Barnier has called on the UK to stop playing ‘hide and seek’ and decide on a realistic exit strategy as he blamed Britain for the stalled talks.
4. The latest report from the Exiting the EU Committee on the progress of the UK’s negotiations has been published, highlighting various significant issues which are still to be resolved, including citizens’ rights and the NI border.
5. The EU has stepped up demands on the UK to legislate to preserve the status of European speciality produce including Feta cheese, Parma ham, French cognac and Belgium’s sour lambic beers.
6. The Government has published a technical note considering the exchange and protection of classified information post-Brexit.
7. For the Financial Times, Sebastian Payne has argued that Britain’s foreign policy lacks vision for its post-Brexit future.
8. For the LSE British Politics and Policy blog, Bruce Ackerman and Sir Julian Le Grand have explained what a referendum on the Brexit deal should look like and how we can avoid a re-run of the 2016 referendum.
9. David Davis is reportedly pushing for Northern Ireland to be given joint EU and UK status and a 10-mile border buffer zone after Brexit in a bid to tackle the ongoing customs deadlock.

Impact of Brexit on the economy

1. The Foreign Secretary and Jacob Rees-Mogg have continued to put pressure on Theresa May, continuing their attack on the customs union.
2. Former EU Commissioner, Jonathan Hill, has been hired by UBS as their Brexit adviser.
3. The Financial Times has published an article considering the hidden border dilemma caused by Brexit in relation to VAT.
4. A delegation of executives from Europe’s biggest industrial companies have warned Theresa May that they will not invest in Britain as long as there is uncertainty over the terms of the exit from the EU.
5. An article for Quartz has argued that the new US tariffs are a bad sign for Britain’s trade deal post-Brexit.

Brexit as it affects Practice Areas:

Criminal

The Northern Irish police have asked for more funds to protect the post-Brexit Irish border, predicting it was “reasonable to assume” that any officers deployed to monitor the post-Brexit border would become “terrorist targets” from the anti-ceasefire, hardline, dissident republican factions.

Competition and Regulatory

The Treasury and the Bank of England are at loggerheads over the future of City of London regulation after Brexit, with claims that relations on the issue are now ‘very, very bad’.

Events

1. The Financial Times is hosting a summit on Brexit and beyond on the 12^th June 2018, considering the planning for post-Brexit growth.