Empire 2.0

[-:Undertaker:-]

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/6649b1a0-01e1-11e7-ae09-71f14792998a

Ministers aim to build ‘Empire 2.0’ with African Commonwealth


http://feeds.thetimes.co.uk/web/imageserver/imageserver/image/methode%2Ftimes%2Fprod%2Fweb%2Fbin%2F4c070a3e-01d4-11e7-ae09-71f14792998a.jpg?crop=3159,1777,0,165&resize=685
Liam Fox (pictured in New Delhi), the international trade secretary, will promise to build better links with the Commonwealth when ministers from each country meet in London this week


Britain will seek to boost trade links with African Commonwealth nations this week in a move described by Whitehall officials as “empire 2.0”.

Liam Fox, the international trade secretary, will promise to build better links with the 52-member organisation when ministers from each country meet in London on Thursday and Friday.

Britain plans to promise all developing nations that their trading relationships with the UK will stay the same or improve after Brexit, guaranteeing that they will not get worse. Ministers want to go further with African nations, however, and start talks to allow Britain to work more closely with an African free trade zone.

“They want to be able to start talking about African free trade deals this week,” a Whitehall source said.

Trade Minister Liam Fox will lead the charge to recreate special free trade relations with New Zealand, Canada, Australia and a variety of African nations the UK once dominated.

Members of the 52-nation Commonwealth will meet in London on Thursday and Friday and officials will launch a charm offensive in a bid to replace the EU.

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Everything I dreamt of is literally coming true.

[-:Undertaker:-]

Making history... :)

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(#Commonwealthtmm = Commonwealth Trade Ministers Meeting)

[-:Undertaker:-]

More on the summit that took place.

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/mar/10/drive-to-replace-eu-trade-links-with-closer-ties-to-commonwealth-economies

Drive to replace UK-EU trade links with closer ties to Commonwealth

In move dubbed Empire 2.0 by Whitehall, trade ministers draw up integration plans as departure from single market looms


http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/01/27/00/3A11ACD200000578-0-image-a-42_1485477541823.jpg
Secretary General of the Commonweath Baroness Scotland with Head of the Commonwealth Queen Elizabeth II


Britain would harmonise regulations with its former colonies rather than the European Union under new proposals for trade integration that Whitehall as well as critics have dubbed Empire 2.0.

At a meeting in London given fresh impetus by Brexit, Commonwealth trade ministers agreed to deepen economic ties on Friday by seeking some of the same standardisation that once frustrated eurosceptics in Brussels.

“Because we share common law, common language, common institutions and common parliamentary structures, that has given us a de facto advantage,” said Commonwealth secretary general Baroness Patricia Scotland at the end of the two-day summit.

“That ... advantage is something which we as a Commonwealth are absolutely determined to exploit and to grow, and at this meeting today we were able to have a comprehensive opportunity to consider how in practice we do that.”

Though still a long way from the extensive regulations of the EU single market, British leaders of the Commonwealth see a growing formal role for the body in economic harmonisation.

Lord Marland, chairman of the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council, and David Cameron’s former trade envoy, said: “I would like to see in the next 12 months, as we move to the Commonwealth summit, that we develop a standard of rules – which could be a Commonwealth accord – which identifies common business practices within the Commonwealth countries which countries can subscribe to.”

Lord Marland claimed this would give greater certainty to exporters, “in particular SMEs [small and medium-sized enterprises] which need all the support they can get ... to reduce the uncertainty of going into new markets”.

But he cautioned the British government to tread cautiously in assuming that other Commonwealth countries would automatically welcome the new-found interest, especially after many were cut off from UK markets when it joined the European common market.

“They do, of course, need to acknowledge that they withdrew from all the trading relationships with all the Commonwealth countries and approach it with a degree of humility that recognises that,” he said.

Integration is fine so long as done by intergovernmental means (as present), the Guardian is wrong to assume eurosceptics are against any harmonisation to make business easier. The difference is, this is via intergovernmental method aka *equal agreement* rather than a powerful body like the European Commission doing it via supranational methods.


https://i0.wp.com/order-order.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/eu-v-row.jpg?resize=472%2C480

Thoughts?

[hungryfront]

I'm all for another Commonwealth as long as it's a union, like the EU or UN. I don't want a repeat of what we did before, where we were selfish so owned and exploited other, weaker countries.

[-:Undertaker:-]

I'm all for another Commonwealth as long as it's a union, like the EU or UN. I don't want a repeat of what we did before, where we were selfish so owned and exploited other, weaker countries.

All Commonwealth countries are equal yes, it's a voluntary organisation. :)

Even more equal than the EU in fact, as nothing can be passed in the Commonwealth (like say on accord on behalf of a nation) without all nations agreeing to it and there's no courts to overrule national parliaments or national courts if a nation may disagree. It's what any alliance should be: intergovernmental and not state-building as the European Union is.

Plus it will be a huge benefit if used for trade to poorer African countries who are locked out of Europe by EU Custom tariffs.

[hungryfront]

All Commonwealth countries are equal yes, it's a voluntary organisation. :)

Even more equal than the EU in fact, as nothing can be passed in the Commonwealth (like say on accord on behalf of a nation) without all nations agreeing to it and there's no courts to overrule national parliaments or national courts if a nation may disagree. It's what any alliance should be: intergovernmental and not state-building as the European Union is.

Plus it will be a huge benefit if used for trade to poorer African countries who are locked out of Europe by EU Custom tariffs.

Free movement between Commonwealth countries wouldn't be bad at all, as long as they're all developed and have reasonable borders. Part of the reason people didn't like the EU wasn't necessarily the free movement of people, but it was the fact that we couldn't control what immigrants got into the rest of EU countries and therefore could come into ours, for example Germany accepted a lot of migrants straight away because they were skilled, but the UK couldn't say "no, we don't want you".

[-:Undertaker:-]

@hungryfront (https://www.habboxforum.com/member.php?u=128539);

Indeed. There's actually talk of a potential Free Movement zone between Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. I think we'll likely see visa relaxations between the countries first, but hopefully it's something that can be achieved before say 2025.

The ability to live/move between Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand is very popular in opinion polls in all four countries. If a government successfully brought it about, it'd be an election-winner hands down.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C5h7tR_U4AEIrF6.jpg

[hungryfront]

-:Undertaker:-; the only problem with that I see is that they're not connected - the EU was all mainland so you could drive from France to Italy, but you can't drive from America to NZ.

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