Lars Karlsson: CapacityNow

I have spent some time this week in Lisbon, Portugal. A wonderful city.

Lisbon has charm, great architecture, excellent food, beautiful places, very nice people – and naturally Port wine. Just to mention some pf the many good reasons for everybody to visit Portugal.

It is also a town with trams. Normally cities with tram systems, don’t have good football teams. I don’t know if it is scientifically confirmed but at least this is the situatiln fort he cities in Sweden. Anyway, Lsobon also have good soccer teams in Benfica, Sporting and Belenenses:

I also took a short day trip tour with the train to Caiscais, a famous small city Nortj of Lisbon. I had some wonderful sea food here.

Lisbon is one of the places you want to return to. Like my other favourite places; San Francisco, Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town and Sydney.

If you have a chance – go. You will not be disapointed. See you on the streets of Lisbon!

In one year from now the United Kingdom will be the first country ever to leave the European Union.

Brexit happens on 29 March 2019 at 23h00.

We now know that there will likely be a transition period until 31 December 2020. If UK manages the conditions agreed.

Both date are increadible close in time, especially considering the consequences for UK-EU trade.

There is no time to loose, neither fro Governments or companies in the preparations.

My advise is: Start today, start now.

Some people argue, ‘but we don’t know what will happen?’.

There is already a lot of things we do know. Everybody can prepare for the best case scenario and I also recommend all business involved in UK-EU trade to prepare for at least two more scenarios to be ready for the result of Brexit.

The Guardian writes today about my SmartBorder 2.0 report and the proposed solutions for the post-Brexit borders situation. It is a Press Release from Ms. Diane Dodds MEP for DUP that refers to the SmartBorder 2.0 solution.

This is the article.

DUP has also issued a press notice to mark Brexit now being just one year away. Here is an extract from the statement from the DUP MEP Diane Dodds, who says “pragmatic solutions” to the Irish border problem do exist.

Ensuring a sensible Brexit for our province requires going beyond simply defending Northern Ireland’s current position. This means finding practical solutions to the emotive issue of the border, which has won many hearts but thus far very few open or practical minds. It is worth remembering that the Irish Republic inspects only 1% of goods reaching their shores from outside the EU – second only to Gambia in the fewest physical checks. Given the UK commitment to lift and shift EU rules into UK law it is hard to see how Brexit could therefore equate to the draconian type of border predicted in some quarters.

In practice it makes little sense for the Irish government to adopt a single-track focus of addressing the land border if far more significant economic frontiers at places like Holyhead and Dover are not resolved. An estimated two-thirds of Irish exports to the continent, including many perishable goods, move via the UK land-bridge. 39% of all Irish containers transit Northern Ireland. Drawing a border in the Irish Sea wouldn’t make their movement any easier. That is why we should look at the border issue in the context of the overall relationship. An ambitious free trade deal covering all goods and separate customs partnership can remove the vast majority of friction as a starting point – at every land, sea and air border crossing. In effect, the fewer trade barriers, the fewer the solutions required.

Pragmatic solutions do exist but they hold relevance beyond simply the Northern Ireland border. Respected international customs expert Lars Karlsson has given evidence in the European parliament and at Westminster. His message very clearly is that a ‘smart border’ concept involving digital technology, electronic declarations and trusted trader schemes can be implemented at every UK-EU border and would work under any political outcome.

Moving away from the notion of special treatment to smart solutions can help to make commitments to Northern Ireland operational in a way that respects both internal markets.

Source: The Guardian