Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team European and world leaders send their condolences after Manchester attack Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, said he said learned of the attack with with sadness and shock. “It breaks my heart to think that, once again, terrorism has sought to instil fear where there should be joy, to sow division where young people and families should be coming together in celebration,” Mr Juncker said. “Today we mourn with you. Tomorrow we will work side by side with you to fight back against those who seek to destroy our way of life. They underestimate ours and your resilience – these cowardly attacks will only strengthen our commitment to work together to defeat the perpetrators of such vile acts.” – FT (£) The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, expressed her “great sadness and shock”, adding that the attack on Monday night would “only strengthen our resolve to work with our British friends against those who plan and execute such inhuman acts. I assure the people in Britain: Germany stands by your side.” In France, newly elected president Emmanuel Macron voiced his “horror” and “distress”, saying France sent its “compassion and solicitude” to the British people and that he would speak to Theresa May on Tuesday. – Guardian EU mourns Manchester victims – Euronews EU has approved negotiating directives and formally approved Michel Barnier to broker Brexit talks… EU ministers formally appointed Michel Barnier Monday to broker their divorce from the U.K., and adopted detailed negotiating directives for the Brexit talks… Barnier sought to reassure the U.K. that his goal was to move to discussion of the future relationship as quickly and effectively as possible. “The quicker we get agreement on these priority points,” he said, “the quicker we will be able to start negotiating the future relationship in a constructive spirit.” But he dismissed the notion that either side could walk away without a deal — something that British ministers have threatened to do if they don’t get what they want from the talks. “[No deal] is not an option,” said Barnier, “my option is to succeed.” – Politico EU’s Barnier refuses to imagine UK Brexit talks walkout – BBC News Brexit negotiation: Five things Europe fears most – Peter Foster for the Telegraph (£) > Hugh Bennett on BrexitCentral: EU Brexit Directives – what they mean for the negotiations …as David Davis said Britain won’t accept EU’s ‘obsession’ with ECJ in Brexit talks Britain will not accept the “one-sided” powers of the European Court of Justice as part of a deal to leave the European Union, Brexit minister David Davis said on Monday, criticising what he called an “ideological obsession” with the court in Brussels… “The deal we reach will need independent and impartial enforcement,” Davis said in a statement in response to the approval of the negotiating directives. “But an ideological obsession in Brussels with one-sided jurisdiction by the European Court of Justice – in the UK, after we have left the EU – is not acceptable and will not work.” – Reuters Lawyers for Britain produce new legal analysis of the UK’s potential Brexit financial liabilities We have failed to find a credible legal argument either for a liability on the UK to contribute to the EU’s unfunded pension fund deficit, or for any liability to contribute to the EU’s ongoing programmes after Brexit day on 29 March 2019, with the possible exception of an obligation to carry on contributing overseas aid of €1.3bn up to the end of 2020 via the European Development Fund (EDF) – Lawyers for Britain Britain leads Europe as investment magnet Foreign investors poured more money into the UK than any other European nation last year as healthy economic growth helped the country maintain its image as an attractive business destination. However, international investors said that continuing the flow of cash will depend on Britain remaining an open nation with strong trading links with the EU and building relationships with other countries, as well as investing in infrastructure and skills… EY’s survey of global investors found that 32pc want the UK to strike new trade deals with countries such as China, the US and India if Britain is to remain an attractive investment target. The next most important point is infrastructure – 31pc want Britain to invest more in the area. The study found 28pc want a greater focus on skills, matched by the 28pc who want the UK to retain existing EU trading arrangements. – Telegraph Irish voters want Dublin to be tougher with EU on Brexit, according to poll According to a poll a massive 80 per cent of people think ministers aren’t being robust enough in putting Ireland’s interests ahead of those of the rest of the EU. Senior ministers today defended the Irish government’s approach to Brexit and said they had secured significant concessions from the rest of the bloc ahead of the talks. Ireland, which has huge trading links and a land border with the UK, is one of the countries set to be heaviest hit if the EU’s inflexible stance leads to a no-deal scenario… [T]he poll, for the public broadcaster RTE, suggests that most Irish voters are more concerned about securing a good deal for their own country than what happens to the rest of the bloc. – Express ECB plan to take euro clearing from London is stalled by infighting Discord between the eurozone’s three largest countries is stalling the European Central Bank’s efforts to come up with a way to force euro clearing out of London and put it under its watch, three sources told Reuters. Currently UK clearing houses, particularly the London Stock Exchange’s LCH, guarantee the vast majority of the trillions of euros worth of trades conducted every year and their location will likely be a point of contention in divorce talks between Britain and the European Union… But the proposal hit a roadblock last week when it was discussed at a meeting of the ECB’s Governing Council, where board members sit alongside national governors. – Reuters EU in turmoil as members turn on each other in vicious scrap for UK’s lucrative euro trade – Express Frankfurt’s skyscraper jungle hopes to entice post-Brexit business – EurActiv EU should not meddle with a safe, transparent system – Xavier Rolet for The Times (£) Brussels sets rules for Brexit regulatory agencies fight Brussels has issued its criteria for deciding the post-Brexit home of two London-based EU agencies, setting the stage for a five-month battle between states vying for two of the union’s regulatory jewels… The “objective criteria” stress the “vital” need for “business continuity”, ensuring that the agencies can be up and running by the time of Brexit in locations that can “maintain and attract highly qualified staff”… Competition for both the EBA and the EMA has been fierce, with nearly every remaining member state applying for one of the two or, in some cases, both. Britain has yet publicly to accept that it will lose both agencies and is expected to fight to retain some staff and functions. – FT (£) Portugal becomes latest member state to try and poach the UK-based European Medicines Agency after Brexit – EurActiv European bureaucrats draw up plans to drag all EU27 nations into the single currency after Brexit… Minutes of a meeting between the EU commissioners responsible for policy on the euro, Valdis Dombrovskis and Pierre Moscovici, show how the the pair plan to introduce all EU member states into the Eurozone by 2025, German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine reported… EU countries that would be affected by a move to extend the Eurozone include Denmark, Sweden, Poland, Croatia and the Czech Republic. Under current treaty agreements, however, Denmark could not be forced to join the euro. The revelation comes even as Greece continues to repair itself from the devastation of the euro crisis. – City A.M. …as eurozone finance chiefs fail to agree deal for Greek bailout funds Eurozone finance ministers have failed to agree a debt relief plan for Greece, raising the prospect of a summer crisis for the single currency bloc if Athens misses a loan repayment. A meeting of the eurozone’s 19 finance ministers broke up late on Monday night, amid a row with the International Monetary Fund about Greece’s debt burden… [T]he IMF has so far refused to get involved in Greece’s third bailout because officials think the country’s debts cannot be managed in the long-run. The Washington-based fund has repeatedly said it is looking for “a credible strategy to restore debt sustainability”. – Guardian Leaked intelligence report warns of new EU migration crisis More than six million asylum seekers are waiting to cross into Europe, a leaked intelligence report warns. There has been a huge increase in the number of migrants hoping to reach EU countries, it says – contradicting claims from Brussels that the situation is under control. The confidential report, leaked to German newspaper Bild, claims 6.6million migrants are waiting in countries around the Mediterranean sea to cross into Europe, including 2.5million in war-torn North Africa… EU leaders have boasted that a controversial deal with Turkey which bolstered the country’s coastguard and saw sprawling migrant camps set up there has largely stemmed the flow of migrants making their way into Europe. German Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly plans to request similar deals with North African countries in a manifesto ahead of September’s election, according to Bild. – Daily Mail Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: What Brussels is being told about Brexit The established narrative in EU capitals and the European press is that Britain has gone off the rails and is committing egregious self-harm… Nobody suggested in any Brexit session that the EU itself might have misjudged the political dynamics, or made a mistake in trying to dictate even the terms of negotiation – as if Britain is as vulnerable as Greece, or akin to an EU accession country jumping through hoops to gain admission. It is taken for granted that the EU sets the rules in these talks… [T]hey laughed at Mrs May’s pledge that “Brexit means Brexit” only to learn that she was deadly serious. Now they are repeating the error over her “better-no-deal-than-a-bad-deal” pledge… The EU elites bought into “Bregret” hopes, overestimating the influence of “hard Remainers”… A leaked memo from the European Commission suggests that the two key officials, Michel Barnier and Jean-Claude Juncker, have been shocked by British resistance. They are belatedly waking up to the risk that the UK will walk out if pushed too crudely on the €100 billion divorce bill, and if it is made to sign before talks start on the future relationship. – Ambrose Evans-Pritchard for the Telegraph (£) Christopher Howarth: Financial services and data sharing can be managed without a fully-fledged deal One of the more curious recent realignments in British politics is that of the ‘banker bashing’ pro-EU, internationalist left’s new found admiration for international capital as personified in the City of London. If the City were under threat from Brexit, it could now count on a new cohort of supporters from across the left of British politics. But is there a threat? The first problem is that the City’s advocates have cried wolf at every opportunity. First the Euro; then EU membership; then Internal Market membership, now the “financial services passport” – all have been claimed by the City’s advocates as existential to the City. We were told by Michael Sherwood, a Goldman Sachs’ VP, before the referendum that “every European firm would be gone in very short order”. HSBC promised a “Jenga tower” of City job losses. These have all proved wide of the mark. For an industry that prides itself on managing and profiting from risk, it’s odd that their reaction against Brexit looks a little like a Pavlovian response to change. So before we cash in all our political capital to keep them happy, what is it that the City actually needs? – Christopher Howarth for ConservativeHome Ben Kelly: Brexit Britain needs immigration It is now near universally accepted that the Brexit must mean tangible reductions in immigration yet, paradoxically, for Brexit to be a success we will need a liberal immigration policy. It is essential to get the balance right between our economic needs and responding to the public and restoring their trust, which is why the Conservative party re-committing to bringing down immigration to the “tens of thousands” is a folly of huge proportions. The target, set arbitrarily and disingenuously by David Cameron, did so much to corrode public trust in politics and toxify the immigration debate because it was a pledge that he never intended to keep; it would have been eminently sensible to drop it… We can thrive as an independent country but not if we immediately put up barriers and disrupt the labour market. We need flexible labour regulation, open markets, low taxes and a business friendly economy with employers open to recruiting global talent. – Ben Kelly for Reaction William Norton: Designing a post-Brexit agricultural policy Devising “Son of CAP” could be a complicated business, with various special issues groups all shouting at once, and Whitehall no longer having Brussels to blame… This is undeniably a consequence of Brexit. But it is not a consequence of failing to reach a post-Brexit deal with the EU. It’s a consequence of being responsible for your own agricultural policy… Either way, the UK will have an agricultural policy, and we will have to ensure it complies with our international obligations. WTO members are bound by the Agreement on Agriculture, part of the parcel of treaties that came into force on 1st January 1995. – William Norton for ConservativeHome Brexit comment in brief Let common sense determine terms of Brexit – John Redwood for the Yorkshire Post The law and politics of the EU’s Brexit bill – David Allen Green for the FT (£) Brexit news in brief Migration cuts after Brexit could spark food industry crisis, select committee warns – Independent Archaeology and classics threatened by research cuts after Brexit, claims study – FT (£) Monarch CEO warns against leaving EU “open skies” arrangement – Independent Officials in member states agree with influential Britain on direction of EU, according to survey – Express Retired Scottish doctor launches new Brexit legal challenge – Independent Hungary rejects EU pressure over asylum and university laws – BBC News Sinn Fein demands Irish Unity Referendum within five years after Brexit vote – Express Dutch coalition talks on hold after second attempt to form government fails – Politico Britain and Ireland have dirtiest bathing beaches in Europe – The Times (£) Colin Firth applies for Italian passport in dual citizenship bid after being ‘horrified’ by Brexit – Daily Mail ‘Brexit virus’ caused by EU sausages causes 60,000 Britons to fall ill annually – Telegraph