The UK made a strategic mistake in dismissing the Messina Conference in 1955. This moment is not as seismic – but the UK should not pass up the opportunity to shape the post-Brexit, post-Ukraine, Europe where it can.
It is in the US’ and its allies’ interests for the world’s free and open economies to work together where possible to build their resilience and prosperity.
The approach set out under the REUL Bill risked becoming a parochial and backward-looking distraction. EU regulation should be considered in conjunction with domestic rules and curent economic and social trends.
Nevertheless, a wide range of chronic political problems continue to make the eurozone vulnerable to a major crisis when financial stresses inevitably do materialise.
While the UK and EU’s member states have chosen different methods of governance, they share the challenge of operating in an increasingly competitive and bipolar world dominated by the US-China rivalry.
With resources limited, the UK will need systematically to prioritise interventions – for example, ifserious about being a global player in electric cars, there needs to be a strategic approach to investment in battery manufacturing.
Ultimately, the party is mindful of more hard-line Unionists on their flank. If it is unwilling to re-enter the Executive, this tension will need to be tested in fresh Stormont elections.
The Scandinavian social model is often held up as the best answer to marrying global capitalism and liberal democracy – but it rapidly changing.
From renationalisation of the energy and train companies to a bonfire of environmental and employment regulations, taking back control from Brussels has opened a new range of possibilities that were previously off the menu.
But Britain must also continue to deepen its trade ties with other partners, particularly in the Indo-Pacific. The long-term strategic case for joining the CPTPP is evident.
Many EU countries are now at the point of tipping over into a period of depopulation. With the exception of France, the EU27’s most populous member states – Germany, Italy, Spain, and Poland – are all entering a period of population decline.
the risk is that the fiscal errors made by the Truss administration tarnish the vital goal of improving the UK’s sluggish long-term growth rate.
If the UK is able to shape it, such a forum could be valuable for discussing issues, such as intergovernmental cooperation on energy security and migration,
Italy heads to the polls on Sunday. It is likely to be another illustration of the uneasy relationship between the country’s volatile democratic politics and the strictures of Brussels’ political and economic orthodoxy.
The CPTPP gives the UK another string to its bow. In a world coalescing into economic blocs, the CPTPP will amplify the UK’s voice and give it a foot in many camps.