EU and UK clash openly over Theresa May's Chequers plan

Monday, September 3rd 2018 - 09:20 UTC

Full article 49 comments

The EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has said he is “strongly” opposed to key parts of Theresa May's proposals for a future trade deal. On Sunday morning the prime minister said she would not compromise on the UK government's Chequers plan. Read full article

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Think
Geeeeeeeeee..., Engrishmen...

Please..., just go away an leave us Europeans in peace...

Go an play with your beloved WTO..., specially now..., when your favourite American cousin..., Mr. Trump has declared his inte tion of an USAexit from it...

Chuckle..., chuckle...
Sep 03rd, 2018 - 09:32 am - Link - Report abuse 0
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DemonTree
Don't be silly, we can leave the EU but we can't leave Europe. Like it or not we still have to deal with each other. And the EU isn't ever gonna be peaceful, it's got 20 problems and Brexit is only one of them. What's it to you anyway? You live 10,000km away.

Now the EU is the one being stubborn, this isn't going to end well.
Sep 03rd, 2018 - 10:05 am - Link - Report abuse +1
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Think
EU is being “stubborn” for not accepting them Insular Anglos cherry and raisin picking...???
Typical haaaaaaaaughty Engrish worldview..., laddie...
Sep 03rd, 2018 - 11:08 am - Link - Report abuse 0
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DemonTree
I meant Barnier refusing to consider letting the UK collect customs fees on behalf of the EU. If he keeps rejecting May's suggestions out of hand we are going to end up with no solution and a closed border.

But staying in the single market only for goods is a compromise for Britain too, it's not cherry picking. AFAIK it was part of the plan to ease keeping the border open. If Barnier doesn't like it he should be constructive and suggest something different.
Sep 03rd, 2018 - 11:54 am - Link - Report abuse +1
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Think
Laddie...

It's you Anglos that 'ave renounced your Golf Club membership...
It's you Anglos that 'ave to follow the rules..., pay your dues and empty your locker...
It's you Anglos that 'ave to present an acceptable suggestion if you so wish..., not the Golf Club...

Capisce...?
Sep 03rd, 2018 - 12:22 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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DemonTree
Not at all. The EU say they want a deal after Brexit, and we know it would be better for both sides to have one. Barnier isn't a judge on Pop Idol; his job is to negotiate, so he should be doing everything reasonable to find a compromise, which includes making his own proposals.

I'm sure you wouldn't say it's up to Mercosur to present suggestions to the EU, and the EU just needs to accept or reject them.
Sep 03rd, 2018 - 01:31 pm - Link - Report abuse +1
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Think
Don't compare apples and pears to me..., laddie...

Mercosur and the EU are two diverse Golf Clubs..., negotiating a deal in “Good Standing”
ThesUnited Kingdom is a Colf Club member leaving the Cub in “Bad Standing”...
That's the way we see it in Paris.., Berlin.., Rome.. and Buen Pasto ...
Capisce...?
Sep 03rd, 2018 - 01:45 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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DemonTree
In bad standing? How so? We're leaving the club according to the rules created for that purpose, nothing more. That's as good as admitting they aren't negotiating in good faith out of spite.
Sep 03rd, 2018 - 02:19 pm - Link - Report abuse +1
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Think
Yes..................................................................................... bad standing...!
Has the unusual hot Engrish summer affect your judgement...?
You Insular Anglos owe us ~£60bn...
You started by trying to pay us ~£00bn...
Later you graciously accepted to pay us ~£20bn...
As we speak..., you seem to have agreed with yourselves to pay us~ £40bn...
Read me lips... You Anglos owe us ~£60bn.... All other is bad standing... Capisce...?
Sep 03rd, 2018 - 02:52 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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DemonTree
Do you really want to start lecturing others on paying debts, Sr Argentino? We don't owe YOU anything, and there was nothing agreed beforehand about what members who leave would be liable for. They've said they will pay, but that doesn't mean agreeing to everything the EU can throw in with no reciprocity. And the government didn't start by offering £0, that's bollocks.

Besides that, the EU isn't saying 'pay £60bn to get a better deal'. They're putting all kinds of other conditions, and then refusing to work with any suggestions to get around the obstacles.
Sep 03rd, 2018 - 03:33 pm - Link - Report abuse +2
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Think
You are talking to a Sr. Europeo right now...Mr. Engrishman...
And..., as an European..., I'll repeat the request I made above...:

***“ Please Engrishmen..., just go away an leave us Europeans in peace...
Go an play with your beloved WTO..., specially now..., when your favourite American cousin..., Mr. Trump has declared his intention of an USAexit from it...”***
Sep 03rd, 2018 - 03:56 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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DemonTree
It's not the same, it's not your life and you don't have to live with the decisions these idiots make. As a Brit and a European, who never supported any of this, I do.
Sep 03rd, 2018 - 04:19 pm - Link - Report abuse +2
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Think
By the way...

You say above that...:
***The government didn't start by offering £0, that's bollocks.”***

Please tell me...
1) What is that place in my linked video with those British green leather benches...?
2) What was the governament position of that flaxen haired Getleman in said video...?
3) Which part of the Engrish expression “Go Whistle” is this European foreigner not understanding...?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rWaBpLgSyPA
Sep 03rd, 2018 - 04:40 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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DemonTree
1. It isn't a meeting room where negotiations with the EU are happening.
2. He wasn't PM or or in charge of conducting said negotiations.
3. The part where he's just bloviating for the audience.

Do you really think of yourself as European? It's such a stereotype on the web I thought it couldn't possibly be true...
Sep 03rd, 2018 - 06:02 pm - Link - Report abuse +1
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gordo1
We British are Europeans - whether some of us like it or not! Leaving the European Union is the most stupid event that has happened in my longish life and I and all my family are devastated. My son, a senior executive in the international hotel business, is looking to leave the UK and make his home in either France or in Spain. Because of Brexit and also the threat of Jeremy Corbin my wife and I, having retired to the UK, are selling our house and returning to Latin America very shortly.
Sep 03rd, 2018 - 06:13 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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Think
Hmmmmmmmmm.
I'm full fledged citzen of two EU countries...
I'm genetically European for at least the last 1,100 years...
There ain't an Euopean country I know of that I havn't visited... twice...
I have scores of direct line family buried..., living..., working.., studying and protesting in...... seven EU countries..., I Think...
Yes... I would consider meself an European...
Sep 03rd, 2018 - 06:16 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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DemonTree
@gordo1
Hear, hear. But isn't moving to Latin America a little drastic? I'd have thought Corbyn would seen quite unexceptional there.

@Think
What, even all the Balkan ones?

But have you ever lived and worked in Europe? I know people are different, but you just don't seem all that similar to the Scandinavians I've met. Maybe it's because they were younger.
Sep 03rd, 2018 - 08:43 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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Think
Slovenia..., Croatia..., Bosnia & Herzegovina..., Serbia and Macedonia were onmy Spitfire Mkl usual route to some memorable Greek holidays... laddie

Lived ad worked in Europe more years than I care to remember...

You haven't met any of my kin, I reckon... Quite a few Think dangerously like yours truly...
Specially the young bright tirabombas ones...
Sep 03rd, 2018 - 09:26 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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DemonTree
“Lived ad worked in Europe more years than I care to remember”

Not more years than me I reckon, but that's a lot more convincing than visiting every country or having ancestors from Europe, which would include tens of millions of Americans. Speaking of visiting, was that when it was still Yugoslavia?

And it would be pretty unlikely for me to meet any of your relatives, but South America... I guess the values are different. Seems to me the average (western) European has more trust in authority and society, or at least did until recently. And besides, there's the whole political correctness thing...
Sep 03rd, 2018 - 09:56 pm - Link - Report abuse +1
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Think
Yugoslavia was indeed the official name of the place at the Mark I time...
Most of me kin lives in Europe..., no farther than 1,500 miles from Ely...
Most of them are nothing like you describe above...
Luckily...
Sep 03rd, 2018 - 10:09 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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DemonTree
A very different time. What was it like visiting a communist country?

And to put it baldly, do your relatives think they're better than other people because of their sex/race/other bullshit reasons? Because if so, better I never meet them.
Sep 03rd, 2018 - 10:53 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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gordo1
Demon Tree

We are NOT moving to Latin America - we are RETURNING to Latin America! Countries such as Panamá, Costa Rica and México are truly welcoming expatriate pensioners with myriad tax and other advantages. Tax is only charged on income derived locally so income paid overseas does not even have to be declared.

Medical insurance is available at reasonable cost to compensate for the absence of social medicine.

It helps enormously, of course, if one speaks Spanish.
Sep 04th, 2018 - 07:49 am - Link - Report abuse 0
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DemonTree
@gordo1
Tú no eres de América Latina, ¿verdad? ¿Pero has vivido allí anteriormente? ChrisR movío a Uruguay a causa las razones mencionaste, ¿ya han decidido qué país vivir en? Creo que el nuevo President de México está mucho más loco que Corbyn, renunció a toda la seguridad oficial a pesar de que muchos políticos son asesinados por los barones de la droga cada año.
Sep 04th, 2018 - 11:07 am - Link - Report abuse 0
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Think
Remarkable good...
Just to be hepful...:

Tú no eres de América Latina, ¿verdad? ¿Pero has vivido allí anteriormente? ChrisR ||| SE MUDO ||| a Uruguay a causa ||| DE ||| las razones ||| QUE ||| mencionaste, ¿Ya han decidido ||| EN ||| qué país vivir? Creo que el nuevo Presidente de México está mucho más loco que Corbyn, renunció a toda la seguridad oficial a pesar de que muchos políticos son asesinados por los barones de la droga cada año....
Sep 04th, 2018 - 11:57 am - Link - Report abuse 0
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DemonTree
Gracias. No supe que palabra utilizar para “moving house”. ¿Es 'a causa de' la correcta frase? ¿O puedo uso simplemente 'para'?
Sep 04th, 2018 - 01:03 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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Think
“A causa de” is perfect...
“Por las razones que mencionaste” would sound more coloquial...
Sep 04th, 2018 - 01:13 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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DemonTree
Okay. Por vs para is a whole other can of worms...
Sep 04th, 2018 - 02:52 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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Think
Nobody ever said that life's easy..., boy...
Sep 04th, 2018 - 04:56 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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DemonTree
No.

¿Estás ofendiendo por lo que pregunté sobre tu familia?

¿Tambien, debo usar 'usted' en lugar de 'tú'? (No dices 'vos', no he aprendido las conjugaciónes.)
Sep 04th, 2018 - 06:53 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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Think
Angry...? Why...?
Lets put it this way...
During the thirties... there was a couple of carnal brothers in me Clan.
The younger one volunteered for the Lincoln Battalion...
The older one for the 5th. Wiking Division...
Does it answer your question...?
Sep 04th, 2018 - 07:56 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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DemonTree
Yes, it does. That must have made for some awkward family reunions. They remind me of the Mitford sisters; one of them became a fascist and moved to Germany, and another one became a communist and went to help fight in the Spanish civil war.

But I'm sure I'll not be meeting either of them in this life. You said your grandkids are some kind of anarchists?
Sep 04th, 2018 - 08:57 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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Think
Black block...
Sep 04th, 2018 - 09:27 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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DemonTree
Not Gandhi fans, then. What do they hope to achieve by smashing up shops and throwing stones at the police?
Sep 05th, 2018 - 10:22 am - Link - Report abuse +1
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Think
Pfffffffff....
Sep 05th, 2018 - 01:40 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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gordo1
Demon Tree

No soy latinoamericano pero mi esposa latinoamericana y yo hace pocos días cumplimos 52 años de casados y hemos vivido en Colombia(en dos ocasiones), Ecuador, Honduras, El Salvador y España. Por más de treinta años trabajé con unos de los mayores bancos comerciales del Reino Unido y después casi diez años laboré con el mayor banco comercial de unos de los países andinos.

Si, efectivamente, hemos escogido el país en el cual vamos a formar nuestro hogar y NO es Méjico. Y, a propósito, el recién elegido Presidente de Méjico aparentemente es gran amigo de Jeremy Corbin.

(Think - please correct any errors you might find. You are welcome.)
Sep 05th, 2018 - 02:10 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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Think
No soy latinoamericano pero mi esposa ||| si lo es |||. (....... ) Hace pocos días cumplimos 52 años de casados y hemos vivido en Colombia (en dos ocasiones), Ecuador, Honduras, El Salvador y España. Por más de treinta años trabajé con unos de los mayores bancos comerciales del Reino Unido y después casi diez años (......) con el mayor banco comercial de unos de los países andinos.
Si, efectivamente, hemos escogido el país en el cual vamos a formar nuestro hogar y NO es Méjico. Y, a propósito, el recién elegido Presidente de Méjico aparentemente es gran amigo de Jeremy Corbin.
Sep 05th, 2018 - 02:52 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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DemonTree
@gordo1
¡52 años! Estoy admirado. ¿Su esposa es de Colombia? Tengo un amigo que trabajó en Venezuela y estaba casado con una venezolana, no eran admiradores de Chavéz.

No es una sorpresa escuchar sobre Corbyn y Amlo. ¿Es el país cual ustedes han elegido un secreto? Sin duda, saber español será muy util.

@Think
There, you can do mine. ;)

And would you mind giving me some advice? My friends are asking me to come skiing again, but I have a bad knee and it hurts to ski. I enjoy the skiing; I don't enjoy the pain. I swore I wouldn't do it again last time, but now I'm considering it. Would it be stupid?
Sep 05th, 2018 - 03:32 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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Think
When I was a young man I smashed me knee
The bloody Look Nevada didn't open...
From the Murray's green basin to the dusty outback
I walzed that hurt joint for long years...
Then in 19xx I bathed in Fiambala's hot springs
Its waters..., somehow healed it...
I haven't alpin-skied since then...

PS...:
Nordic is quite all right...
Sep 05th, 2018 - 04:26 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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gordo1
Demon Tree

Sorry - that's all you'll get!

Think - those corrections/changes a bit of a “nit picker” in my humble opinion!
Sep 05th, 2018 - 04:50 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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Think
Nope... they aren't...They were necessary... As your wifey i you don't believe me...

If I wanted to “nit pick”..., I would have changed most of your correct but grino style of writing in spanish...

(As you surely could do with me foreign way of writing Engrish...)
Sep 05th, 2018 - 05:06 pm - Link - Report abuse -1
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DemonTree
@Think
Very poetic. :)

I was thinking of trying Nordic skiing, but unfortunately they decided to go to France instead of Finland this time, so it's not an option.

How was my Spanish? Even more Gringo-y than Gordo1's, I assume?

And would Gordo1's be more or less wrong if he wrote:

“No soy latinoamericano pero yo y mi esposa latinoamericana hace pocos días...”
Sep 05th, 2018 - 05:54 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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Think
1) Lots of good Nordic pists in France...
2) ***”Es el país ( cual ) ustedes han elegido un secreto? “***
- A tricky one... In this specific case one must use...: ”que”
https://blog.lengua-e.com/2014/cuando-se-utiliza-el-cual/
Sep 05th, 2018 - 06:10 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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DemonTree
Lol, oops:

”Usos incorrectos como los de (3) son típicos en textos redactados por personas que se sienten inseguras en el uso de la lengua escrita. Como el cual es más largo que su alternativa que, les parece más importante y, por tanto, más propio de la lengua escrita. Para ellos, el tamaño importa.”

Escribé 'que' primero y entonces lo cambié. 'Que' significa tantas cosas en español, tuve miedo estaría poco claro. Parece 'que' es más seguro.

Ahora estoy maldiciendo mi 'Engrish education' que no incluyó ninguna lecciones de gramática. No sé ni que es una preposición.

You're right about the skiing, there are a few cross-country ski trails where they are going. Do you have to lean way far forward like in downhill skiing? That is what hurt so much. And thanks for correcting my attempts at Spanish, I'd probably learn a lot faster if I practised writing more as well as reading. I'm realising how little I really know the verb conjugations, even the basic ones.
Sep 05th, 2018 - 09:11 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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Think
Cross Country is easy on the knees and..., IMHO..., much more fun than downhill...
I don't Think you will regret trying it...
Here's a modern 101 with the right accent...:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mjbuwmUzUhQ

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=mjbuwmUzUhQ
Sep 05th, 2018 - 10:16 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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DemonTree
Looks like fun. And the next video is about skate skiing, I didn't know that was an actual sport. I did it last year to move around on the flat, but it got tiring very quickly.

Would it be dangerous to go out alone? All my friends will be on the slopes.
Sep 05th, 2018 - 11:24 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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gordo1
Demon Tree

Can I just assure you that Think's Spanish is unlikely to be any better than mine? My Spanish owes more to Spain than Latin America - that's why he thinks it's “gringoish” as he doesn't understand Iberian Spanish!
Sep 06th, 2018 - 03:30 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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DemonTree
Heh. Do you think in Spanish, Gordo1?

Think, you do make mistakes in English sometimes, but not as many or the same ones as Enrique or other Spanish speakers on here. Maybe it's cos you you grew up speaking a Germanic language as well as Spanish?

PS. A or an depends on the the sound of the word, not the spelling. So it's a European, a Ukrainian, but an umbrella and an heir to the throne.
Sep 06th, 2018 - 03:58 pm - Link - Report abuse 0
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gordo1
Demon Tree

Yes - at times I think in Spanish and I ALWAYS count in Spanish!
Sep 07th, 2018 - 05:50 am - Link - Report abuse 0
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DemonTree
Interesante. ¿Es porque aprendiste contar en español antes? ¿Y qué de calcular y las tablas de multiplicar?

¿A veces pasa que estás hablando en inglés y no puedes recordar la palabra que quieres usar, pero la palabra español sí te ocurres? ¿O viceversa?

Ya tuve la experiencia inquietante de leer una palabra en español y la entendí pero no la pude recordar en inglés.

(Please tell me if any of that is wrong.)
Sep 07th, 2018 - 09:32 am - Link - Report abuse 0
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