UK citizens in legal battle to retain EU rights
"The Guardian" reports on a group of UK citizens in the Netherlands who are going to court in a bid to keep their rights as EU citizens post-Brexit. According to the paper, “the claimants will argue that the rights of UK citizens are independent of the country’s EU membership.”
The group has the backing of British lawyer Jolyon Maugham, the QC behind a series of recent Brexit legal challenges. “Previous ECJ cases have suggested that EU citizenship rights have an independent reality, not just as an adjunct to national citizenship rights,” Maugham is quoted as saying.
Tory MEP furious with Tusk and Juncker
Daniel Hannen, a Conservative MEP, has reacted with anger to the statements made by Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker that the EU would welcome a reversal of Brexit. The EU Council and European Commission presidents had addressed the European Parliament on Tuesday. Juncker said, “Our door still remains open. I hope that that will be heard clearly in London.”
“The Express” reports Hannen claiming that such sentiments will only harden voters against the EU. “If Tusk and Juncker truly wanted Britain to stay in the EU, they'd propose a looser arrangement. Their refusal to contemplate such a thing explains why we're leaving.”
Chinese invest in space lab
The Chinese National Space Science Center signed a memorandum of cooperation with the Luxembourg ministry of the economy on Tuesday to establish a deep-space lab in the grand duchy. The agreement happened as minister Étienne Schneider visited the Middle Kingdom.
More Lux ships on Dutch waterways
There was a “notable increase” in the number of freight vessels of Luxembourg nationality using Dutch waterways in 2017 according to a report by Statistics Netherlands. Luxembourg registered vessels carried over 11 million tonnes, or 3 percent of total goods transported last year. That represents a significant increase in the last ten years, when Luxembourg ships carried just over 1.5 million tonnes of goods.
Of all vessels flying the Luxembourg flag, 90 percent operate in tanker shipping, representing 9 percent of total tanker transport on Dutch inland waterways in 2017.
Law firm expands with 2 new partners
Global Legal Post reports that Benelux law firm AKD is expanding its Luxembourg investment funds practice. It says that lawyers Edouard d’Anterroches and Victorien Hémery join from Arendt & Medernach and will become partners in AKD.
AKD’s managing partner Erwin Rademakers said the new partners “bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to our Benelux services” and that they will help the firm’s clients “face the challenges imposed by the introduction of numerous laws and regulations over the past few years, including the AIFMD, PRIIPs and MIFID II.”