Brexit: Sunday of mixed messages over customs union

The UK government is apparently ruling out a post-Brexit customs union with the EU. Indeed, the stance on a customs union seems to be so good that, like the New York of the song, it was named twice. A statement from an official government source, cited in The Guardian, said ““It is not our policy to be in the customs union. It is not our policy to be in a customs union.” The statement followed a key television interview in which home secretary (the interior minister) Amber Rudd said that the UK would be seeking a tailor-made customs arrangement" on trade. “We want to have a bespoke agreement. Now we’re not going to surrender before we have that battle,” she told Andrew Marr on his BBC programme.

EU to discuss Juncker succession

An informal EU council meeting later this month is expected to discuss how the next president of the European Commission should be chosen.  With Jean-Claude Juncker explicitly saying he will not seek another term after his mandate finishes in November 2019, the EU must not only find a successor but also agree on the method for choosing the next president. Juncker was named after the European Parliament elections of 2014 under a new system that automatically nominated the lead candidate of the largest group in the newly elected parliament. But fears that the role has become politicized because of its link to the parliament have given many EU leaders pause for thought, according to a report from AFP. Michel Barinier, the EU's chief Breixt negotiator, is expected to be among the favourites to succeed Juncker.

Extradition case goes to ECJ

The European Court of Justice may be asked to rule on the case of Thomas Joseph O’Connor, a convicted tax fraudster who whom the UK is seeking to extradite from Ireland. The Irish supreme court, arguing that if O’Connor is jailed in the UK he will finish his sentence after the country has left the EU and that therefore may no longer be subject to the EU charter of fundamental rights, has declined to extradite him and wants the ECJ to settle the matter.