Quentin Peel

Nota: Este archivo abarca los artículos publicados por el autor desde el 1 de diciembre de 2008. Para fechas anteriores realice una búsqueda entrecomillando su nombre.

Europa,

As the deadline of March 29 approaches when the UK is supposed to leave the European Union, the nightmare of Brexit is reaching a climax. Yet the dreadful truth dawning in London, Brussels and across the EU is that the painful process will probably drag on for many months, if not years, beyond the cut-off date.

This week Theresa May, UK prime minister, will ask her parliament to choose between three options. First, she desperately hopes to win approval for the withdrawal agreement she has negotiated with her 27 partners in the EU. It will be a small miracle if she succeeds.…  Seguir leyendo »

Europa,

The resounding election victory for Emmanuel Macron as French president – the youngest leader of France since Napoleon Bonaparte – has been greeted with relief and enthusiasm across Europe. He defeated Marine Le Pen of the far-right Front National with more than 66 per cent of the vote, on a passionately pro-European platform, promising radical economic reform in France and deeper integration in the European Union.

The German government said his poll success was ‘a victory for a strong and united Europe.’ The reaction in London was rather more cautious: ‘France is one of our closest allies and we look forward to working with the new president on a wide range of shared priorities.’

For EU leaders, a victory for Le Pen would have endangered the survival of their entire project.…  Seguir leyendo »

Europa,

The former European commissioner for trade and director-general of the WTO speaks with Quentin Peel about the complexity of the Brexit negotiations and his regret on seeing the UK leave the EU.

Do you believe that this Brexit negotiation can possibly be completed in the legal timescale of two years?

Frankly speaking, no. When I look at the to-do list, which is this telephone book of issues that will need to be settled and negotiated, I don’t think it can be done within two years. But what is probably doable is to have an interim agreement that settles most of the things that have to be settled short-term and that puts down the principles according to which we will negotiate the rest.…  Seguir leyendo »