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BREXIT VOTE

FINANCE

UK can’t cherry-pick EU rules, says Sweden

Sweden’s finance minister, Magdalena Andersson, has made it clear that Britain's trade with the country will be affected by last Thursday's Brexit vote.

UK can't cherry-pick EU rules, says Sweden
Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson following the meeting on Monday. Photo: Anders Wiklund/TT

Speaking after discussions with Swedish businesses on Monday held to dissect the consequences of Brexit, Andersson noted that it “isn't as if you can just cherry-pick and simply follow the rules you want, then have full access to the single market”. 

She also dismissed questions from journalists over a possible bilateral trade agreement with London, emphasizing that there is a reason for having trade agreements at EU level. 

Andersson did however say that the Swedish firms she met were keen to avoid unnecessarily long periods of uncertainty.

“They emphasized that it is important to have good chances to trade with the UK going forward, and that there is not an unnecessarily long period of uncertainty,” she said. 

Several Swedish companies with operations in the UK were invited to discussions, but the business whose shares have so far fallen furthest on the Stockholm Stock Exchange since Thursday's vote was not summoned.

Kitchen fitters Nobia has 2,500 employees in Britain, and makes 45 percent of its sales there. By noon on Monday its shares had plummeted over 18 percent.

“Right now 2.5 billion kronor ($293 million) has disappeared from the company, and that’s a lot,” Nobia CFO Mikael Norman told news agency TT.

“We were already disappointed just before the weekend when it became clear that the majority of Brits voted to leave the EU. We think the reaction, a drop of 18 percent, is excessive, and believe in the long run that it will stabilize.”

Nobia has several factories in the UK and buys products from many other EU countries.

“With the pound now weakened it becomes more expensive for us to buy products from other EU countries, so we are affected a lot right at the moment. But I don’t think there is any reason to panic. There will be uncertainty in the market before it stabilizes. We have a buffer,” the CFO insisted.

Telecoms giant Ericsson is one of the companies that took part in the ministerial meeting. It did not want to go into detail on how Brexit could affect them, but expressed regret over the outcome of last Thursday's vote. 

“Our commitment and priority has always been to support our customers and businesses in the UK regardless of the result of the referendum. As Sweden is a part of the EU we regret the UK’s decision to leave,” press officer Karin Ronander wrote in a statement.

Construction giant Skanska was also invited, but its press manager did not anticipate Brexit having a significant impact on their operations.

“It isn’t as if we need to take mass action. There won’t be any immediate impact on us as a company, and moreover, exactly what is going to happen is very unclear,” Edvard Lind said.

For members

DRIVING

EU countries to extend range of offences foreign drivers can be fined for

The EU has agreed to extend the number of driving offences for which motorists from other member states can be fined for and to make it easier for authorities to chase up the fines and make foreign drivers pay.

EU countries to extend range of offences foreign drivers can be fined for

In the last voting session of this term, in April, the European Parliament passed new rules to ensure drivers who breach local traffic rules in another EU member state are found and fined.

The cross-border enforcement (CBE) directive was first adopted in 2015 after it was found that non-resident drivers were more likely to commit speeding offences. The European Commission estimated that in 2008, foreign drivers accounted for about 5 percent of road traffic in the EU but committed around 15 percent of speeding offences.

The directive partially improved the situation, but according to the Commission 40 percent of traffic violations committed in other EU countries are still unpunished “because the offender is not identified or because the fine is not enforced”.

In March 2023, the Commission therefore proposed updating existing measures.

New rules extend the type of offences that will trigger assistance from another member state and seek to improve collaboration among national authorities to identify and fine offenders.

The European Parliament and Council agreed in March on the final text of the directive, which is now being formally approved by the two institutions.

André Sobczak, Secretary-General at Eurocities, a group representing European cities in Brussels, said: “While the final outcome of the discussions is not ideal, we are pleased that EU policymakers have at least put the issue of the enforcement of local traffic rules on foreign vehicles on the table. As we approach an election year, I believe such a practical example can demonstrate why a European approach is necessary to address local issues.”

Which traffic offences are covered?

The previous directive covered eight driving misconducts that would require member states to cooperate: speeding, not wearing seat belts, failing to stop at a red traffic light, drink-driving, driving under the effect of drugs, not wearing a helmet (motorcycles / scooters), using a forbidden lane and using a mobile phone or other communication devices while driving.

The Commission proposed to add to the list not keeping a safe distance from the vehicle in front, dangerous overtaking, dangerous parking, crossing one or more solid white lines, driving the wrong way down a one way street, not respecting the rules on “emergency corridors” (a clear lane intended for priority vehicles), and using an overloaded vehicle.

The Parliament and Council agreed to these and added more offences: not giving way to emergency service vehicles, not respecting access restrictions or rules at a rail crossings, as well as hit-and-run offences.

Despite calls from European cities, the new directive does not cover offences related to foreign drivers avoiding congestion charges or low emission zones. In such cases, information about vehicle registration can only be shared among countries with bilateral agreements.

Karen Vancluysen, Secretary General at POLIS, a network of cities and regions working on urban transport, called on the next European Commission to take other local traffic offences, such as breaches of low emission zones, “fully at heart”.

Collaboration among national authorities

For the traffic violations covered by the directive, EU countries have to help each other to find the liable driver. The new directive further clarifies how.

Member states will have to use the European vehicle and driving licence information system (Eucaris) to get the data of the offender.

National authorities will have 11 months from the date of the violation to issue the fine to a vehicle from another EU member state. However, they will not have to resort to agencies or private entities to collect the fine. This was requested by the European Parliament to avoid scams or leaks of personal data.

Authorities in the country of the offender will have to reply to requests from another EU member state within two months.

When the amount of the fine is more than €70, and all options to have it paid have been exhausted, the member state where the violation occurred can ask the country of the offender to take over the collection.

The person concerned will be able to request follow-up documents in a different official EU language.

When will the new rules will be enforced?

Now that the EU Parliament has passed the law, the EU Council has to do the same, although there is no date set for when that will happen. Once the directive is adopted, EU countries will have 30 months to prepare for implementation.

Last year the Commission also proposed a new directive on driving licenses, but negotiations on the final text of this file will only take place after the European elections.

This article has been produced in collaboration with Europe Street news.

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