The Brexit Thread

[GaryH]

So does anyone know the reason why the EU countries are lagging behind us in Vaccinations administered, or even why it’s taken them so long to approve them if it has no relation to EU law?

I guess they can’t use it in Europe until it gets the official CE mark on the product. And as for the U.K. I suppose they gave a two fingers to the EU and said as we are leaving we don’t need to wait for you... and what you gonna do about it anyway and went ahead by itself!

 

[rob666]

Due to border issues, large amounts of truck freight will be moving direct between the continent and the island of Ireland, being shipped direct instead of using the mainland road network.
I think the Stenna services start today.
Sensible, logical, environmentally correct, but only occurring because of Brexit.
That's 500 fewer lorries on the M6 and M1 every day of the year, better for road commuters, and the poor blighters living near the motorways.
Edit...just checked F.T. figures, 415 container trucks a day not using the mainland "land bridge".

 

[Alsty]

I guess they can’t use it in Europe until it gets the official CE mark on the product. And as for the U.K. I suppose they gave a two fingers to the EU and said as we are leaving we don’t need to wait for you... and what you gonna do about it anyway and went ahead by itself!

Er, no.

The head of the MHRA, Dr June Raine, said "we have been able to authorise the supply of this vaccine using provisions under European law, which exist until 1 January" [source].

Under EMA rules the vaccine also needed to be approved by EU countries and the European Commision, hence there is an administrative delay [source]. That is why it took longer. There was however nothing to stop other countries from doing the same as the UK under the same emergency provisions if they so wished.

 

[Dave]

People in the U.K. have started getting the Covid vaccinations way before anyone in the EU has and we are doing a lot more than EU countries at the moment thanks to not having to wait for EU approval at the start.

As Rob and Altsy points out the EU didn’t stop member states emergency approving the vaccines. In fact both Pfizer and Oxford vaccines where approved under the EU regulations in this country as at the point of approval we where still subject to those rules.

It really has nothing to do with the uk putting 2 fingers up, we followed EU rules. Other countries have made an active decision to use the EMA. I suspect the speed we authorised was based on political will rather than anything else, most other EU governments haven’t been as badly hit in the theatre of public opinion as our idiotic government have.

So does anyone know the reason why the EU countries are lagging behind us in Vaccinations administered, or even why it’s taken them so long to approve them if it has no relation to EU law?

Ultimately they felt we where rushing the safety checks when it comes to approval.

Regarding roll out, we have a centrally coordinated health system. It’s under funded but it’s interconnected nature allowed for a fast rollout. Pretty much every failure of the pandemic has either been governmental or a role outsourced to the private sector. Remember that when the government start the next round of privatisation.

Health care provision is very diverse across the EU because the EU doesn’t really dictate much of it (sovereignty waves at you from those countries). A lot of European countries have a welfare funding stream to their health but a lot still use private companies to provide the care.

 

[AstroDan]

I am keen for the government to get issues like the below solved as soon as possible. Having to pay sums at the doorstep in order to have your parcel delivered is an absolute nightmare. Some of the figures discussed are really quite high! I know Brexit will throw up all sorts of relatively small issues, but it's vital that this is worked through as soon as possible.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55734277

 

[Jb85]

All I will say is freight forwarders have not been given our company the correct info

we have not been told to get EORI numbers from all our customers - this is leading to delays in customs clearance (some have been 2 weeks so far) and frustration with our client base

the perception on the continent has been ‘you voted for this, it’s your problem to sort’ - when in effect only our customers can resolve this by getting these numbers

I can see this leading to a delay in orders from our European counterparts

 

[jon81uk]

I am keen for the government to get issues like the below solved as soon as possible. Having to pay sums at the doorstep in order to have your parcel delivered is an absolute nightmare. Some of the figures discussed are really quite high! I know Brexit will throw up all sorts of relatively small issues, but it's vital that this is worked through as soon as possible.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55734277

In one respect the VAT (under £135) and import duties and VAT (over £135) are now the same whether its coming from the USA, China or the EU now. Its more that people weren't used to paying British taxes on items from the EU.
I don't expect them to abolish the taxes, it will be about informing people they now have to pay them on EU as well as the rest of the world items.
For items under £135 then the seller should now be paying the VAT to HMRC now anyway and many online marketplaces (eBay, Aliexpress) etc are now set up to do that. But smaller international sellers will have the hassle of paying VAT to HMRC now.

I don't think Brexit is a good thing, but I really can't see HMRC giving imports from the EU special treatment compared to the rest of the world.

 

[Islander]

At work the paperwork I've had to chase for anything I import from outside the EU has always been a nightmare, with suppliers and couriers always being less than helpful.

That same process I had to follow for non-EU imports now applies to anything I buy from outside Britain... fun

 

[AstroDan]

In one respect the VAT (under £135) and import duties and VAT (over £135) are now the same whether its coming from the USA, China or the EU now. Its more that people weren't used to paying British taxes on items from the EU.
I don't expect them to abolish the taxes, it will be about informing people they now have to pay them on EU as well as the rest of the world items.
For items under £135 then the seller should now be paying the VAT to HMRC now anyway and many online marketplaces (eBay, Aliexpress) etc are now set up to do that. But smaller international sellers will have the hassle of paying VAT to HMRC now.

I don't think Brexit is a good thing, but I really can't see HMRC giving imports from the EU special treatment compared to the rest of the world.

It's a pity, because this ultimately costs us all more money or time. It's just throwing up barriers where there weren't before. The Cheshire Cheese Co. have stopped exports to the EU, which for example is a lost market for them. It needs solving.

Mind you, I guess part of the deal with Brexit is that a lot of folk (of course, not all - many knew) just didn't realise just the gravity of what the single market actually meant and the "deal" doesn't cover every last thing.

I still hope to see a steady re-aligning over the next 20 years. Barriers are unhelpful.

 

[BigT]

Due to border issues, large amounts of truck freight will be moving direct between the continent and the island of Ireland, being shipped direct instead of using the mainland road network.
I think the Stenna services start today.
Sensible, logical, environmentally correct, but only occurring because of Brexit.
That's 500 fewer lorries on the M6 and M1 every day of the year, better for road commuters, and the poor blighters living near the motorways.
Edit...just checked F.T. figures, 415 container trucks a day not using the mainland "land bridge".

That surely an advantage of Brexit, all of those foreign lorries not damaging our roads and paying nothing for the privilege, good they can cut us out.
From my experience of the last couple of weeks importing from Denmark is that couriers seem to have taken advantage and put up prices, who’d have thought that?
Give it a couple of months and prices will be lower again when they start realising they aren’t making any money.

 

[Alsty]

That same process I had to follow for non-EU imports now applies to anything I buy from outside Britain... fun

It does feel that's the government's justification for the extra red tape... "you had to do all these forms for countries outside the EU, at least now it's the same for all countries". If only we could streamline everything rather than just make everything equally difficult.

 

[AstroDan]

It's just a bloody nonsense. I'll be paying VAT on a delivery from the Europa-Park online store at this rate. Where was all this when Johnson & Co. were propagating Brexit? Oh yeah... it wasn't.

Needs sorting!

 

[Tim]

I've had to pay 'extra on delivery' for items from the US before but never as much as 1/3 of the original price. That sounds ridiculously high for an import tax. I can understand why people are surprised and rejecting deliveries.

 

[imanautie]

I've had to pay 'extra on delivery' for items from the US before but never as much as 1/3 of the original price. That sounds ridiculously high for an import tax. I can understand why people are surprised and rejecting deliveries.

For some items most of the "extra" cost is what the courier charges for giving customs money on your behalf, royal mail it's something like £8, ups it's (don't quote me) £11 something per package...
The thing is it really should come as a surprise to anyone who's watched or read the news leading up to Brexit or has ever ordered from China.

 

[Benzin]

I'm sure a lot of these points were raised during the build up to the vote, but anything possibly considered negative was dismissed as "Project Fear".

Reality is hitting a lot of industries. Seeing the likes of Roger Daltry having to sign a petition for musicians to get touring visas after his comments of "we played in Europe before the EU" shows that so many views were stuck in the past with zero consideration to how the world has changed.

I think our current government bet everything on a "good" deal (for them, unlikely for the masses) with the US under Trump and have seen that rug pulled out from under them.

 

[AstroDan]

Thing is, whilst I don't deny some elements of Project Fear probably didn't hold water, many did. And some of these things are now Project Reality. It is still early days, though, so hopefully a solution will be sought for this and many other issues.

All it does is hurt people's pockets.

 

[jon81uk]

It's just a bloody nonsense. I'll be paying VAT on a delivery from the Europa-Park online store at this rate. Where was all this when Johnson & Co. were propagating Brexit? Oh yeah... it wasn't.

Needs sorting!

but you won’t need to pay German VAT of 19% just British at 20% so the overall cost should be roughly the same, unless the item is over £135.

 

[Rick]

I'm sure a lot of these points were raised during the build up to the vote, but anything possibly considered negative was dismissed as "Project Fear".

Thing is, whilst I don't deny some elements of Project Fear probably didn't hold water, many did. And some of these things are now Project Reality. It is still early days, though, so hopefully a solution will be sought for this and many other issues.

That's true, but it's equally true that voting for Brexit didn't mean anything at all in terms of certainty. It was voting to start a journey without any true understanding of the destination - pretty much whatever you wanted it to be. May's proposed Brexit would have been quite different to Johnson's, but both equally would have been Brexit because "Brexit means Brexit", after all *rolls eyes*.

A lot of these issues could have been prevented, or lessened but the government chose not to pursue that end for a myriad of reasons: political, practical and sheer pig-headedness.

 

[WillPS]

I'm not a Brexit supporter, but is it just me who sees somebody who imports a £200 coat being charged an extra chunk of domestic taxes and thinks 'good'?

 

[BarryZola]

I'm not a Brexit supporter, but is it just me who sees somebody who imports a £200 coat being charged an extra chunk of domestic taxes and thinks 'good'?

I'm with you here. When it is luxury items I don't really have a problem with it at all. You can take it or leave it. In the long term it may even lead to some growth in home-grown companies.