Brexit is driving a much heralded jobs boom and expansion in the financial services industry – in Luxembourg. According to lobby group Luxembourg for Finance, 47 banks, insurers, wealth managers and investment firms have plans to move some business activities to the Grand Duchy in order to cope with potential disruption from Britain’s impending departure from the European Union.
Four people are going on trial in Paris over an alleged scheme that fed consumers across Europe frozen foods containing cheap horse meat fraudulently labelled as pricier beef.
The International Monetary Fund has warned that escalating trade tensions could undermine global economic growth. In a new report on the world economic outlook, the IMF also warns of risks from a no-deal Brexit. For the world economy, the IMF is now predicting growth of 3.5% in 2019. In October, it forecast 3.7%.
The European Council President Donald Tusk told David Cameron to “get real” over his “stupid referendum” before the 2016 Brexit vote, a BBC documentary reveals. Mr Tusk tells the three-part show that he warned the then prime minister there was no “appetite for revolution in Europe” and he “could lose everything”.
Theresa May has promised to take a more “flexible, open and inclusive” approach to involve Parliament in negotiating a future relationship with the EU as she seeks to revive her Withdrawal Agreement.
The Government of Galicia will commission the University Institute of European Studies Salvador de Madariaga, from the University of A Coruña, a new report on the current status of the Brexit agreement and the possibilities to reach a fishing agreement with the United Kingdom.
Theresa May will try to convince Tory Brexiteers and DUP MPs to back her withdrawal deal by resolving Irish backstop concerns, Cabinet sources say. Last week, Mrs May said she would focus on cross-party talks to get a Brexit deal accepted by Parliament.
Leading German figures have written to the UK asking it to stay in the European Union. The letter, published in The Times, is signed by 31 people, including the leader of the Christian Democratic Union - and likely successor to Angela Merkel - Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer and former Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann.
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has said a no-deal Brexit looks “less and less unlikely” and has launched a contingency plan to prepare for it. After the UK Parliament rejected the withdrawal agreement, Mr Philippe said laws had to be passed and millions invested in French ports and airports.
China’s General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) will bring forward plans to build a nuclear plant in Britain, it said on Thursday, helping plug a gap left by the failure of two Japanese projects.