EU and international briefing

The supreme court has ruled that Boris Johnson’s advice to the Queen that parliament should be prorogued for five weeks was unlawful. There are lots of scenarios that could now unlock if and when the Speaker and Lord Speaker re-open the doors to parliament. The CBI has constantly been in touch with MPs across the House and will be in and out of Westminster the moment parliament returns. We will continue to keep members updated as events develop.

While the drama unfolds in London, conference season continues, two political parties have been setting out their stalls on the future of the UK’s relationship with Europe. Looking to capitalise on the national mood to ‘just move on’ from Brexit, the Liberal Democrats backed a new position on Brexit – with the party committing to revoke Article 50 if they were elected as the largest party after a General Election, but not to hold other political parties to this in any coalition negotiations or government of national unity.

The Labour Party’s conference has also had a significant Brexit focus, with ongoing negotiations to agree its position running into any General Election. Jeremy Corbyn saw off an attempt by grassroots activists to force Labour to adopt an out-and-out remain position before a general election. If Labour wins an election, it will remain neutral while negotiating a new deal with the EU. Labour would then hold a referendum within six months, and the party would decide which side to back ahead of that at a special conference.

In Brussels, and further away from the headlines, negotiations have been continuing on alternatives to the Irish backstop. CBI Director-General, Carolyn Fairbairn, has been engaging closely with both EU representatives and those from the UK government, urging both sides to compromise to get a deal. Find out the latest on what we’re hearing from Brussels, and from the UK government.

The CBI also continues to work hard on international trade, including on UK-US, following the Prime Ministers meeting with President Trump on the 24 September. After her visit to Australia, New Zealand and Japan, Secretary of State for International Trade Liz Truss launched a short-notice consultation on a future UK-Japan trade deal, another sign that new Ministers are pursuing global trade deals in parallel to negotiations with the EU.

Recent engagement

• Carolyn Fairbairn had a call with Didier Seeuws, Head of the Brexit Taskforce in the Council of the EU. In this call, Carolyn impressed upon Didier the importance of a good deal for both sides, and discussed BusinessEurope’s latest statement that no deal would be severely disruptive for the EU.
• In Westminster, Carolyn had a meeting with former Conservative leadership candidate, Rory Stewart MP, and Josh Hardie, CBI’s Deputy Director-General, met with Richard Harrington MP. In both meetings Carolyn and Josh outlined the key risks of no deal Brexit as well as recent parliamentary votes on a further Article 50 extension
• Carolyn also met with the UK’s Ambassador to the World Trade Organisation Julian Braithwaite to discuss how CBI Members can best influence UK’s strategy as a newly independent Member of the WTO.

In our international offices:

• CBI India hosted a roundtable on opportunities for Fintech in India for a visiting UK delegation led by Lord Mayor of London
• CBI Washington and Will McGarrigle, Principal Policy Adviser,  met with trade policy officials in the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committees to discuss the future of U.S.-UK trade and the damages of a no-deal Brexit to the UK business community.