Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team Justice secretary Dominic Raab rubbishes “climbdown” claims… Justice Minister Dominic Raab has rubbished claims that the government is watering down its stance on the European Court of Justice by only calling for an end to “direct” jurisdiction Today the Department for Exiting the EU (DexEU) will reveal what it seeks regarding the UK’s future relationship with the ECJ in another position paper. It is expected to call for an end to direct jurisdiction, but will acknowledge some form of relationship will still be necessary after the UK leaves the European Union. Yesterday pro-Remain group Open Britain slammed the position as a government “climbdown”. – City A.M. UK government hints at ECJ climbdown – Politico Theresa May denies Brexit climbdown – Express The full details of DexEU’s ECJ position paper. – City A.M. Britain says it should still be able to influence EU regulations after leaving EU – Independent Brexit position papers: What does Britain want from the EU? – Asa Bennett for the Telegraph (£) …but admits UK will ‘keep half an eye’ on Luxembourg court… Britain will be guided by rulings from EU judges even after Brexit, a minister admitted today. In a show of defiance, Theresa May is unveiling new plans to remove the UK from the European Court of Justice. Minister Dominic Raab says Britain will ‘keep half an eye’ on EU courts after Brexit. But Justice Minister Dominic Raab said we will still need to “keep half an eye” on how the court rules in future. That suggests that the ECJ’s decisions could have influence how international law is interpreted in Britain. – The Sun EU citizens in Britain must live under British laws – Telegraph editorial (£) >Today on BrexitCentral: Hugh Bennett says Leaving the ECJ is vital, but the legal back doors must be closed too …as the UK also targets early deals on data and lawsuits The UK will continue to comply with European laws on data after the country leaves in March 2019 and the EU should recognise this early on in negotiations, the government has said. In a fresh paper outlining Britain’s approach to negotiating the free flow of data across borders, the department for exiting the European Union has called for an early agreement to mutually recognising current rules so that disruption to business is avoided. – City A.M. Ministers will call on the EU to agree a deal to allow British citizens and businesses to settle legal disputes on the Continent after Brexit. At present, Britons can enforce decisions made by UK courts in any other European country. The provision is reciprocal and widely used to settle child custody and maintenance disputes as well cross-border commercial and consumer cases. Unless a deal can be reached before Brexit, EU courts will no longer automatically recognise British judgments. In the government’s latest paper setting out its approach to Brexit negotiations, ministers are expected to argue that such cross-border legal co-operation should continue. – The Times (£) UK’s data flows under EU surveillance – Politico Brussels scoffs at Britain’s customs proposal ahead of Brexit talks The U.K.’s “fairy tale” plan for post-Brexit customs arrangements with the EU will be a key topic of discussion Thursday at a crucial Brussels meeting ahead of the next round of official Brexit negotiations next week. EU diplomats from the 27 remaining member countries will be briefed by Stéphanie Riso, a senior member of the EU’s Brexit negotiating team, on the current state of the talks and on the bloc’s reaction to U.K. position papers released last week on post-Brexit customs arrangements and the Northern Irish border. – Politico Brussels tells UK to give clarity on divorce bill or Brexit talks will stall Britain must come forward with a proposal for how to calculate its EU exit bill or next week’s Brexit talks will come to a grinding halt, according to three senior diplomatic officials briefed on the negotiations. At next week’s round of talks, according to the three senior officials spoken to by Politico, Brussels expects U.K. Brexit Secretary David Davis to provide precise details on which obligations in the EU budget it is willing to pay for — in short, a methodology for calculating the bill. – Politico Britain will boom once free from the EU’s ‘destructive policies’, top economist claims Britain will boom once free from the EU’s “destructive policies”, a top economist claims. Roger Bootle said in a report backed by 15 other experts that the EU is a “comparative economic failure” hamstrung by “cack-handed” decisions. Mr Bootle, who is the chairman of consultancy firm Capital Economics, authored a report claiming the EU’s economic policy has created an “unmitigated disaster” in mainland Europe. – The Sun We cannot be fooled by the myth of EU economic success- Roger Bootle for the Telegraph (£) Germans worried ‘no-deal Brexit’ will wreck their economy as China welcomes closer ties with UK Britain received a double Brexit boost as German officials called for a good EU deal and China welcomed the prospect of new trade links with the UK. Germany’s finance ministry warned that the country’s economy could be sunk by Brexit if a trade deal is not reached. Angela Merkel’s officials have admitted that Brexit could damage Germany’s economy. Meanwhile, the Chinese ambassador said he was delighted by Britain’s “commitment to free trade” after Brexit. The news will come as a boost to British officials as they negotiate our future outside the EU. – The Sun Brexit Secretary David Davis warns failing to secure a deal would be ‘disastrous’ for EU businesses – The Sun Export order books continue to drive manufacturers’ output up The CBI’s measure shows that export order books have surged in the past year despite weak official figures: the index tracking exporters shows orders far above long-term averages of negative 19 per cent… Anna Leach, CBI head of economic intelligence, said: “There are further signs that exporters are feeling the benefit from the lower pound in this month’s figures, and output growth is expected to power on over the coming quarter.”… Martin Walder, [vice president of industry at Schneider Electric], said: “Now more than ever with the weak pound, UK manufacturing has an opportunity to compete with other major economies, who have far exceeded our adoption of robotics and autonomous systems thus far.” – City A.M. Migration to the UK hits lowest level for three years The number of EU citizens has emigrating from the UK rose by a third to 122,000 over the past year, new figures have found. Net migration has fallen by a quarter in the past year to 246,000, driven by the departure of EU citizens in the wake of the EU referendum result. Nicola White, head of international migration statistics at the ONS, said: “The net migration change was driven by an increase in emigration, mainly for EU citizens and in particular EU8 citizens, and a decrease in immigration across all groups.“These results are similar to 2016 estimates (published in May 2017) and indicate that the EU referendum result may be influencing people’s decision to migrate into and out of the UK, particularly EU and EU8 citizens. – Telegraph (£) Europe under threat from terrorists posing as migrants – The Times (£) Libya calls for Europe to help migrant crisis – The Times (£) UK finance sector proposes ‘ambitious’ post-Brexit trade pact The International Regulatory Strategy Group (IRSG) said in the draft report, to be submitted to the British government in September, that such a trade pact would allow UK firms to operate in the EU without the cost of having a local licence… Initially, the financial sector called for continued full passporting rights after Brexit, which is being negotiated over two years since Britain triggered the process in March, following a referendum vote in June last year. The new proposals mark a departure from that stance, a recognition that the EU is likely to rule out future passporting. – Reuters City lobbyist plots Brexit talks with German election victors – City A.M. European Investment Bank halts billion pound UK investment projects despite UK still paying in Bitter Eurocrats have halted the funding of vital billion pound investment projects in the UK despite Britain continuing to pay into the scheme, an investigation revealed. The European Investment Bank (EIB) will reportedly put most UK applications for long–term loans on hold until a Brexit deal has been agreed… The UK provides 16 per cent of the capital of the Luxembourg-based multilateral institution, which exists to fund infrastructure spending and other activities that promote European cohesion and integration. – Express Revealed: Guy Verhofstadt’s well-paid side jobs Guy Verhofstadt is a busy man. As well as his day job in the European parliament, Verhofstadt has the task of trying to thrash out a deal in his role as chief Brexit negotiator. But that daunting task – and his dedication to the EU – isn’t stopping the Belgian politician from earning a small fortune for his side jobs away from his taxpayer-funded role. In fact, in a tally of all 748 MEPs, Verhofstadt comes second for his outside earnings – which tally up to at least £175,000 a year.As an MEP, Verhofstadt already pockets £93,000 a year. But the bulk of his income actually comes from his commitments away from the European parliament.- The Spectator EU faces trade battle with Canada after EU farmers accuse it of CETA stitch-up Eurocrats are said to be considering retaliatory action after Ottawa announced a new import quota for European cheese that producers say is a stitch-up. EU farmers say the move, which will see all dairy products entering the country go through Canadian manufacturers or distributors, shows Canada has “no interest to allow European cheese on their markets”. Earlier this summer officials had warned that the impasse over cheese could delay the implementation of the entire CETA deal, which has already experienced a painfully long birth. – Express Singapore could review trade deal with EU due to loss of access to UK financial services – Express Martin Howe QC: We are not a vassal state, and we should not be ruled by Europe’s vassal court The government has published its position paper on mechanisms for the resolution of future disputes under post-Brexit treaties between the UK and the EU. These treaties are likely to cover the rights of EU citizens in the UK and of UK citizens in the EU, the rules of the free trade agreement which the government wants to negotiate with the EU, and the continued involvement of the UK in some European agencies where it is sensible to remain involved – for example, the European Medicines Agency which carries out the highly technical task of assessing the safety and efficacy of drugs. – Martin Howe QC for the Telegraph (£) Richard Ekins: The government is right to turn its back on the European Court of Justice A key question in the Brexit talks is how any deal between the EU and UK will be upheld. The government has begun to address this today, publishing a paper on enforcement and dispute resolution. One thing is clear: ministers are committed to extricating the UK from the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice (ECJ). In fact, the main point of the paper could be summed up as spelling out why Britain cannot agree to the ECJ being the arbiter of any Brexit deal.The government is entirely right about this. – Richard Ekins for The Spectator Peter Foster: Position papers that don’t take a position: it is time Theresa May made a move on Brexit The question of how the UK will create it’s “deep and special” partnership with the European Union after Brexit without formally submitting to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice is among the most devilish in the UK-EU divorce talks. Today, with a little over a year of effective negotiating time remaining, the Government produced its long-awaited “position paper” on how it plans to square this circle, but again stopped frustratingly short of actually explaining how it will achieve its goals for Brexit. – Peter Foster for the Telegraph (£) The Government is failing to communicate a clear Brexit position – Telegraph editorial (£) Mark Wallace: The ECJ is still off the table – and rightly so As the Government uses the August news lull to issue its series of position papers on the practicalities of Brexit, one issue that has come up today is the question of adjudication. If an agreement is reached (which is far from guaranteed), there will need to be some tribunal or adjudicating body to arbitrate any disputes relating to it. – Mark Wallace for ConservativeHome David Lidington: Mutual recognition of UK and EU courts would show that both sides are putting citizens first It’s in the interests both of the UK and the rest of the EU that there is an effective, mutually agreed way to resolve cross-border legal disputes once Britain leaves the EU. Today, in the latest in a series of position papers on our future relationship with the EU, we set out a clear approach to achieving this. Let me explain why this issue is so important. More people live their lives and more businesses trade across national borders and different legal jurisdictions than ever before. – David Lidington MP for ConservativeHome Asa Bennett: The EU wants to set the Brexit agenda, but Britain is fighting back The terms of Britain’s exit from the European Union should be agreed “as a single package”, Brussels made clear from the outset, adding that “individual items cannot be settled separately”. The guiding principle for European leaders is that “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed”. But does that mean they’re happy to talk about whatever the British want to bring up? Of course not. The Europeans feel that “an orderly withdrawal” can only be agreed in a “phased approach”. First, they feel both sides need to tackle questions like the Irish border post-Brexit, citizens’ rights and how much Britain needs to pay Brussels to “settle its accounts”. – Asa Bennett for the Telegraph (£) Britain does not want a second vote on Brexit, but that won’t stop Remainers from demanding one – Asa Bennett for the Telegraph (£) Tim Congdon: The British economy has exposed how terrible the pro-EU side’s Project Fear really was In the run-up to the referendum on European Union membership the three-million-jobs-at-risk claim that was central to the economic case for staying in. Nick Clegg’s formula in a Daily Telegraph story of 11 January 2013 was typical and almost apocalyptic in tone. In his words, three million jobs were “dependent on our position as a leading member of the world’s biggest borderless single market, you play with that status at your peril; there are jobs at stake, livelihoods.” He warned that leaving the EU meant isolation, and that “isolation costs jobs, costs growth, costs people’s livelihoods”. – Tim Congdon for the Telegraph (£) John Redwood: You don’t need to be governed by your trading partners There is still more commentary and idle speculation about Brexit than I would like, whilst what we need is to pin down the EU on whether they want a deal or not. The more the opposition, business and some in the media argue on about what the UK position should be, the more likely it is the EU will delay and avoid engagement in the hope that the UK will give more ground. This is, however, a very dangerous strategy for the EU. The more they reject sensible approaches by the UK, the more UK opinion will harden against them and in favour of simply leaving. – John Redwood’s Diary What should a UK foreign policy look like? – John Redwood’s Diary EU could make no Brexit deal a self-fulfilling prophesy – John Redwood MP for The Commentator A UK foreign policy with the rest of the world – John Redwood’s Diary Matthew Lynn: The innovative thinking on Brexit is all coming from Britain We will be hopelessly out-witted by wily Brussels negotiators. We are unprepared for the scale of the task. We are about to be humiliated as we discover just how weak our hand is against a unified European Union that is determined to punish us for our foolishness in leaving the world’s largest trading bloc. The hardcore Remainer commentary on our negotiations over Brexit is so familiar it just about writes itself. But in the last few days, there has been an interesting twist to that script. The UK, far from being the confused, divided and weak partner is the side coming up with the interesting innovative ideas.- Matthew Lynn for The Spectator Evening Standard: A high price looms as Brexit reality bites August is normally the month when politics takes a break and leaves the air waves clear for the likes of Jacob Rees-Mogg. Not this year. Last week the Government published Brexit papers on its ideas to keep the Irish border open and to avoid future customs bureaucracy when British businesses export to Europe. This week, Whitehall will publish no fewer than five negotiating papers in areas ranging from the sharing of data across national boundaries, to civil judicial co-operation across Europe and the arrangements for sharing official documents between nations. In other words, Britain is working hard to prove we can recreate what we already have. – Evening Standard Editorial Britain needs transitional Brexit deal, says George Osborne – The Times (£) Steerpike: From Greece with love Since Britain voted to leave the EU, the decision has been met with derision and mockery by many foreign media outlets – with the New York Times concluding that ‘no Dunkirk spirit can save Britain from Brexit defeat’.However, are some EU members beginning to feel a pang of jealously over the UK’s decision to leave? Mr S only asks on receiving a postcard from his Greek mole, which revealed graffiti calling for Greece to ‘take the Brexit road’:‘Welcome to Greece, the land of opportunity. Taxes, taxes and more taxes.’ It seems the land of opportunity now lies in the Atlantic, not the Mediterranean.- Steerpike for The Spectator Gunnar Beck: If Britain thinks Efta will give it back control of its laws, it’ll need to put a lot of work in first The European Commission has been demanding that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) at Luxembourg should continue to operate as the final arbiter settling any disputes involving the rights of EU citizens in the UK or other issues under a future EU-UK exit and trade deal. In its position paper on dispute resolution after Brexit, the Government firmly rules out such “direct” jurisdiction on the grounds that it would be contrary to international practice The Government’s position on this issue is both principled and entirely correct in international law. – Gunnar Beck for the Telegraph (£) The Government is right to reject indefinite ECJ jurisdiction after Brexit – Gunnar Beck and Richard Ekins for ConservativeHome Brexit comment in brief To agree an orderly Brexit we have to know what the trade deal will be – Andrew Lilico for Reaction Of course it’s hard to escape a would-be superstate. The very difficulty demonstrates why we’re leaving. – Alex Morton for ConservativeHome Why only a hard Brexit will do – Kent Matthews for CapX The Davis poker face – Peter Divey for CommentCentral Clueless Remainers use sabotage as a weapon of last resort – Paul T Horgan for ConservativeWoman A Corbyn Brexit would betray the nation – Isaac Ross for CommentCentral Brexit Britain still hasn’t solved the Irish problem – Robert Colvile for CapX The European Court of Justice is the devil we know, are Brexiteers ready for what could replace it? – Rupert Myers for the Telegraph (£) How Brexit could turn the UK economy Japanese – Grant Lewis for the Evening Standard Farage is far from finished – Daniel Finkelstein for The Times (£) Brexit news in Brief Deutsche Bank plans to expand UK wealth management operation – City A.M. Home Office apologies for accidentally sending out letters threatening to deport EU nationals . – The Sun Eastern European wine sales in the UK have quadrupled since Brexit vote – City A.M. Poland threatens to take EU to court as voters say they could quit bloc over migrant quotas – Express