Aurelia Butler

Boris Johnson’s government has offered a significant climbdown in talks with the EU over post-Brexit trading relations in Northern Ireland, as the prime minister tries to end the toxic dispute.A senior British official on Friday briefed London-based EU journalists that Johnson was no longer seeking the immediate axing of the European Court of Justice from its role in enforcing the so-called Northern Ireland protocol.In a move described as “an important shift”, the UK official said “no one is demonstrating on the streets of Belfast” in protest against the role of the ECJ.The protocol is the part of the UK’s Brexit deal which aims to maintain an open border in Ireland. In exchange, some checks on east-west trade across the Irish Sea are needed. Although Johnson still wants to settle the “governance” issue of the protocol in the longer term, EU journalists were briefed that the prime minister wants to focus for now on securing the smooth flow of goods between Great Britain and Northern Ireland across the Irish Sea.“If the negotiations fail it won’t be because the UK is insisting on taking the ECJ out of the protocol,” the official said, adding that London accepted that the European Commission did not have a mandate from member states to discuss the excision of the court from the deal.

According to journalists at the briefing, they had been summoned specifically to report the “shift” in UK government thinking — an olive branch that could help broker a deal with Brussels.But when accounts of the briefing started to emerge, Downing Street desperately attempted to play down what had been said, fearing it had undermined the negotiating position of Brexit minister Lord David Frost. A government spokesman said: “This is an inaccurate characterisation of our position. Any durable solution must address the full range of difficulties created by the protocol, including on the ECJ.”In spite of that statement, the formal briefing of a group of EU journalists suggests Johnson wants to “park” the ECJ issue to secure a breakthrough in other areas.Both sides have been talking for weeks about a dramatic reduction of checks on goods at Irish Sea ports, including medicines, animals and foodstuffs, and on reducing customs inspections.Stefanie Bolzen, London correspondent of Die Welt, tweeted that the UK official said: “If Protocol works as advertised, it can provide advantages” for Northern Ireland, which uniquely has a foot in both the UK and EU markets for goods.The apparent concession by the UK comes amid pressure from Washington on Johnson not to follow through on his threat to activate the Article 16 override mechanism, that would allow him to suspend parts of the deal.The US is refusing to remove tariffs on UK steel and other metals, with senior figures in Washington linking that stand-off to Johnson’s threats over the operation of the protocol.The mood has become more constructive in recent weeks. EU diplomats believe a turning point came in early November when member states made clear that if Article 16 was triggered they could respond by revoking the entire post-Brexit Trade and Cooperation Agreement, with a year’s notice. The UK has raised the ECJ issue in talks only briefly since then, commission officials said. Diplomats say it has been content to discuss other matters first. While still emphasising the gap between UK demands and the EU offer, Frost has also talked about the possibility of finding a solution. Frost said after talks on Friday that he and his EU opposite number Maros Sefcovic would meet twice next week as they pushed for a deal. More

Reuters reported on Thursday the central bank would soon announce it was leaving its inflation target at 2% in a framework renewal. The central bank and the finance ministry review the inflation target, which expires at year-end, every five years.The Bank of Canada is due to make an announcement at 10 am Eastern time (1500 GMT) on Monday and an hour later Governor Tiff Macklem and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will hold a joint news conference.Neither the central bank nor Freeland’s office were immediately available for comment. More

The meeting, reported earlier by Bloomberg News, will be the last under Britain’s G7 presidency before Germany takes over that role next year, the source said.The agenda will include economic issues such as inflation, as well global health and climate.Inflation has been surging as rising demand has come up against clogged supply chains.U.S. consumer prices posted their biggest annual gain since 1982 in November, the Labor Department reported on Friday.Economists warn that high inflation could persist well into 2022 with supply bottlenecks showing little sign of easing and with wages rising as firms compete for workers. More

(Reuters) -European stocks fell on Friday on nervousness around the Omicron COVID-19 variant, while U.S. inflation reading coming in broadly in line with expectations did little to allay uncertainty around U.S. monetary policy. The pan-European STOXX 600 slipped 0.3%, down for third straight session on worries that measures to curb the spread of the Omicron coronavirus variant could hit economic recovery. But a strong two-day gain at the beginning of the week saw the index post best weekly gain since March, up 2.8%.Data on Friday showed U.S. annual consumer prices rose further to 6.8% – the biggest year-on-year rise since June 1982 and followed a 6.2% advance in October.”It looks to be a subdued end to the week… as stocks pause for breath following the big gains in the first half of the week,” said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG.”U.S. CPI came in line with expectations, but prices continue to rise, meaning that while the pressure on the Fed to raise rates hasn’t increased much as a result of today’s data, it doesn’t really lessen it either.” On the contrary, news that the European Central Bank is widely considering a temporary increase to its bond purchase plan at a policy meeting next week was seen as a dovish step.Technology and retail were the top decliners in Europe on Friday.”We think the path for equities is lower over the next 12 months,” said Milla Savova, European equity strategist at Bank of America (NYSE:BAC).”Real bond yields will come up from record lows as the Fed turns more hawkish and the market starts to price in a sharper-than-expected Fed hiking cycle.” Auto stocks were led higher by Daimler AG (DE:DAIGn) which rose 2.9% after spun-off Daimler (OTC:DDAIF) Truck climbed in its market debut on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.Gains for the sector came even as data showed China’s auto sales dropped 9.1% in November, marking their seventh consecutive monthly fall, as a prolonged global shortage of semiconductors disrupted production.Tobacco group Swedish Match jumped 7.2% after the Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. Democrats dropped a proposed vaping tax that would have taxed e-cigarettes like regular ones.Food delivery companies Deliveroo and Just Eat Takeaway slipped 2.4% and 3.2% respectively, adding to losses in the past week on worries that a European Commission ruling on gig economy drivers would hurt profits.Polish fashion retailer LPP jumped 10.2% to hit a fresh record high, extending Thursday’s rally after strong third-quarter results. More

The EU proposed a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), or CO2 tariff, on polluting goods from 2026, which think-tanks said could lead to increased fee charges on products from Russia, mainly on metals and fertilisers.”Even if Russia continues its current growth model, the economy-wide macroeconomic effect of EU CBAM would be negligible to small depending on its design,” the World Bank said in a report on risks and opportunities of the green transition.”Even if the U.S. joins the EU in introducing a carbon border adjustment, Russia’s losses will increase only negligibly.”The World Bank lowered Russia’s economic growth forecast earlier this month, highlighting risks related to the green energy transition among others, including geopolitics and the COVID-19 pandemic.After shrinking by 3% in 2020, its sharpest contraction in 11 years, the Russian economy is set to grow 4.3% this year, according to the World Bank, but momentum will likely wane in the next few years.”The low-carbon transition efforts of the EU and other large trading partners create a fresh incentive for Russia to catch up with overdue diversification and modernisation of its economy,” the World Bank said.Russia is the world’s fourth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases and relies heavily on fossil fuel exports – but President Vladimir Putin has ordered the government to work towards cutting emissions.Russia’s plan to reduce its carbon footprint by 2050 will require investments of between $13.6 billion and $54.5 billion per year, the central bank said last month.($1 = 73.4600 roubles) More