Europe

Parliament must vote on whether the government can start the Brexit process, the Supreme Court has ruled.

The most powerful court in the land has upheld a High Court decision that ruled it unconstitutional for UK Prime Minister Theresa May to formally trigger the process of leaving the EU without first consulting MPs.
But the court ruled the Scottish Parliament and Welsh and Northern Ireland assemblies did not need a say. Both Scotland and Northern Ireland voted against an E.U. departure in the June vote.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said Britain should look to Switzerland on how to handle relations with the European Union, for a post-Brexit model of "close co-operation", according to Swiss newspaper Neue Zuercher Zeitung (NZZ) on Sunday.

"Britons should take as an example how cleverly Switzerland has linked national sovereignty and close cooperation with the European Union," he said, Britain needed a "wise political solution" to Brexit added.
A series of bilateral deals have been struck between Switzerland and the EU meaning it accepts free movement of people and certain rules on trade.

George Soros, on the sideline of Davos Forum, gave his views on the state of the world. The EU, according to billionaire investor, is disintegrating following last year’s Brexit vote and Italian referendum, a course that must be reversed. The trading bloc has become dysfunctional because it is governed by laws that are "not appropriate to the current circumstances" and not easily changed, he said.

"If Europe breaks down, the consequences will be very dire," the investor said. "But I do see a way it could be saved, and this is also recognized by many of the people in Brussels. They can’t say so publicly, but they know that Europe is not functioning."

The top boss of HSBC, Stuart Gulliver, has said it is planning to move some staff from London to Paris following Britain’s exit from the European Union.

Speaking from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Gulliver said in an interview Bloomberg Television that "about 1,000 jobs which are carrying out activities which are covered by European legislation… would probably need, in our case, to go to France".

While Gulliver had in the past already hinted at such a switch of investment banking jobs, his comments appeared more precise as he suggested France would take precedence over other EU nations.

The European banks, which stocks are represented by the index Stoxx Europe 600 Banks, one of the 19 supersectors of the Stoxx family, had sharply underperformed the market until July 2016.

The course of the banking sector had reversed in August when the index started to climb and its weakness turned into strength. The most convincing signal at this matter occurred the last October, when it broke on the upside moving average at 200 days, just one month after the historical down-trending line has been interrupted. In just six months, 50% of the down-move 2015/2016 had been recovered, at the beginning of 2017 the index of the European Banks had risen 50% from the lows.

The government is seriously considering imposing a £1,000-a-year levy on every European Union skilled worker recruited by British employers after Brexit.

Home Office minister Robert Goodwill told peers that the “immigration skills levy” could be introduced for EU migrants and would “be helpful to British workers who feel they are overlooked” in favour of migrants.

He went on: “I don’t think many people are aware that in April of this year we are bringing for non-EU workers coming into the UK an immigration skills charge.

With the populist vote sweep the upcoming elections across Europe

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan downplayed concerns that London will suffer in the wake of Brexit, telling CNBC in an interview that European Union citizens "are welcome" in the city and "that’s not going to change."

Khan has vowed to “DEFY Brexit” by working on proposals for London-only work visas, not because he and the city’s business leaders believe this would help buttress its economy in the uncertain years ahead, but simply in order to “maintain the number of migrants entering London”.

He told CNBC that one of their main concerns is to continue to attract talent post-Brexit. Among other advantages, Britain is hoping to retain access to Europe’s common market, which currently requires the country to allow free movement of E.U. citizens across borders.