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Japan Goes Public With Brexit Demands, Says Data Flow Deals Must Be Protected (arstechnica.com)

Posted by msmash on from the aftermath dept.

Kelly Fiveash, writing for ArsTechnica:UK Prime minister Theresa May said at the weekend that she wanted to take her time to secure the best trade deals for a post-Brexit Britain, and reiterated -- in her trademark vague terms -- that the so-called Article 50 won't be triggered this year. But political pressure from governments as far away as Japan continues to mount. On Sunday, in a bold move, the Japanese government published a 15-page memo setting out a number of demands it wants the UK to adhere to, once it leaves the European Union. It underscored that Britain faces a torrid time of negotiations -- not just with member states in the EU, but further afield, too. Japan, which has close economic ties with the UK, listed its demands based on requests from businesses in the country. It said; "It is of great importance that the UK and the EU maintain market integrity and remain attractive destinations for businesses where free trade, unfettered investment, and smooth financial transactions are ensured." It's brutal stuff from Japan, and could well lead to other countries making similarly robust demands. On tech specifically, the Japanese government called on the UK and EU, post-Brexit, to maintain cloud agreements between businesses at an international level, by safeguarding the "free transfer of data."

12 of 315 comments (clear)

  1. Meanwhile the EU is saying... by QuietLagoon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ... invoke Article 50 first, leave, and then we will talk about special trade deals. You voted to leave, so leave already.

    1. Re:Meanwhile the EU is saying... by Baloroth · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I don't follow European news, but I doubt that very much. The UK is ~14% of the total GDP of the EU (second largest in the EU): it dropping out without replacing the existing trade deals would be a massive economic blow to the EU. The EU may want to punish the UK for leaving, but I doubt they'd do it at the risk of collapsing the EU economy.

      --
      "None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license." --John Milton
    2. Re:Meanwhile the EU is saying... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The EU are saying "you voted leave, and this period if instability is good for no one, including the rest of the EU".

      Not a bad point, on the whole. I mean, it's almost like we went into a referendum to leave the EU without having any idea about what this means, or any plans to achieve it.

    3. Re: Meanwhile the EU is saying... by thegarbz · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Congratulations you just described trade barriers. But the interesting part is a that when two major economies who trade with each other each impose tarrifs the net gain is normally zero unless there's a massive imbalance in the trade conditions. This is why for instance trade barriers make sense between Australia and China, but not Australia and New Zealand, as the abolishion of barriers in the later doesn't result in work offshoring.

      Speaking of offshoring 1/3rd of cars sold in the UK last year were German. But no where near 1/3rd of them were made in Germany. BMW, Mercedes etc have factories in the UK to serve the UK market. The effect won't be anywhere near as dramatic as all of the anti-Brexit propaganda is making out, and I say this as someone who's dead set against this idiotic idea of a Brexit.

    4. Re:Meanwhile the EU is saying... by Cederic · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Q1 - Is the British Government sovereign in any and all decisions about how to run the country while in the EU.

      Q2 - Can the UK sustain net immigration each year of 300,000 people, and can this be avoided while staying in the EU?

      Any more questions, because those are the only two that fucking matter.

    5. Re:Meanwhile the EU is saying... by Dishevel · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Is it even possible that some voted to leave because they thought that their country should be run by its own government and not by the EU?
      Every single one of those people are just "morons"? There is no reason at all to want your country run by your laws and nothing else?

      --
      Why is it so hard to only have politicians for a few years, then have them go away?
    6. Re: Meanwhile the EU is saying... by Cederic · · Score: 3, Insightful

      What would be the point of the former if each party could choose the later? Seriously, the point is to reach a consensus, not get what YOU want.

      erm. Actually yes, the point of negotiation is to get what you want.

      The negotiation is to find common ground so that all parties can get what they want, and everybody's happy. At no point does this presuppose that all parties must agree at the end.

      Haven't you heard the term, "Negotiations broke down..." ?

      Tell you what, I'll buy your car for $4. Lets negotiate - you can probably bargain me as high as $7, but I wont go beyond that.

      Accepting this negotiation outcome? Or walking away? Oh look, reality just intervened.

    7. Re:Meanwhile the EU is saying... by kellymcdonald78 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I don't think there is anything in wanting this, however to think that it can be achieved without consequence is foolish. The UK in its current form is tightly integrated into the EU and the health of its economy is dependent on trade. The pro-Brexit champions were just as aware of this as anyone.

    8. Re:Meanwhile the EU is saying... by dunkelfalke · · Score: 5, Insightful

      UK has been behaving like a spoiled child throwing a tantrum every time things didn't go their way. Unfortunately the rest of the union has been way too soft to the brits instead of telling them a well-deserved "fuck you".

      --
      "It's such a fine line between stupid and clever" -- David St. Hubbins, Spinal Tap
  2. Re:Leaving the EU was a huge mistake. by mccalli · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I keep reading this 'the old' stuff. Are people aware that these same 'old' will be the people who voted into it in the 1970s? And will, in fact, be the only people who have seen the evolution of the whole situation?

  3. Re:Welcome to the Hotel EuroUnion... by gaiageek · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Angela Merkel, arguably the most powerful of the EU leaders, said there's no need to be nasty to the UK in response to Brexit (i.e. punish them, as you're suggesting). The reality is that the UK will be punishing itself, because it's leaving the club (the EU) and losing the benefits, including free trade with the rest of the EU. This fact alone is enough for any company which had its EU headquarters in the UK to realize they probably need to move to the continent. That's a lot of jobs leaving the country.

    --
    www.gaiageek.com
  4. Re:Leaving the EU was a huge mistake. by Bromrrrrr · · Score: 5, Insightful

    We (the all-wise, all-knowing bureaucrats) also know that consumption of raw milk products is dangerous therefore you (french, italian, spanish, communities that have been making raw milk cheeses are now declared to be WRONG and OLD FASHIONED. And any production of such products will now be ILLEGAL.................

    Of course the fact that no such prohibition exists probably won't stop you from repeating it, will it?

    There are some rules with regards raw milk cheese mainly that it has to be produced in a clean environment and it has to be labeled as being produced with raw milk. All of which seems pretty sensible to me.

    But don't let me get in the way of a nice rant, try using more caps.

    --

    What a rotten party, have we run out of beer or something?