According to an article in The Conversation, research suggests that the new Brexir deal (The Windsor Framework) will be better for Northern Irelandsceconomy.

UK prime minister Rishi Sunak has said Northern Ireland will be “the world’s most exciting economic zone” due to its access to the EU single market under the latest post-Brexit trading deal between the EU and UK.

The details of the Windsor framework are still being pored over politicians and business leaders across the UK, and particularly those in Northern Ireland.

But the agreement in principle aims to address some of the weaknesses of the Northern Ireland protocol. This came into effect in January 2021 as a way to check goods travelling from Northern Ireland into the Republic of Ireland (an EU member) without creating a hard border between the two.

The Windsor framework aims to cut trading costs by simplifying customs checks for goods entering Northern Ireland. It will do this by reducing paperwork and shortening customs processes by relaxing some rules for internal UK trade. Many of these improvements will result from improved IT systems, data sharing and market surveillance enforcement between the EU and the UK.

Research we published in 2021 on the impact of Brexit and the protocol showed it would cause Northern Ireland’s economy to contract over the long run by up to 2.6%. And the same research suggests the new deal could mean a much smaller contraction.

We found that industries that primarily trade in goods – agriculture forestry and fishing, or food and drink – would be most affected by the protocol. Industries that mostly trade in services, such as the financial sector, would be less exposed but still negatively affected.

But with 80% of this contraction coming from trade barriers between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, any efforts to ease trade within the UK will help the region’s economy.

Source:TheConversation

Sweden had a pandemic strategy that stood out and was in the centre of international attention during the global Covid-19 pandemic.

Many countries found the Swedish approach provocative, being implemented without lock-downs and keeping the public system (including schools) and social society – restaurants, shops etc – open. Instead using voluntary measures like social distencing.

There were a lot of international critisism in the international press and from other countries, claiming that Sweden had higher death tolls from this strategy and that it was an irresponsible way to handle a pandemic.

The main reason for this different strategy was that the covid-19 mitigation in Sweden was handled by the expert agency, the Swedish Health Agency. The agency is run by experts with experience from major international health crises.

Now there is well-deserved audit feedback for the Swedish Public Health Agency and its Director General during the pandemic, Doctor Anders Tegnell. Anders Tegnell was state epidemiologist in Sweden between 2013 and 2022.

”Sweden’s excess mortality during the pandemic proves to be the lowest in the EU and the Nordics”

Sweden’s excess mortality during the pandemic proves to be the lowest in the EU and the Nordics, according to new international statistics. “Mortality is not the only answer, we were looking at well established knowledge and curved. We concentrated on the long term effects” says Anders Tegnell in a major interview about the pandemic and face masks, “And I don’t like the word revenge”.

Read more here: reuters

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