Irish Finance Minister Pashal Donoho said Brexit negotiating teams must redouble their “creativity and commitment” to reach an agreement before the end of the year with officials and governments currently concerned about the coronavirus pandemic.
Donoho told CNBC on Friday that the importance of the EU-UK talks has been heightened as the global economy has been gripped by Covid-19-related events in the past few months.
“It’s so important that we all redouble our efforts and redouble our creativity and dedication to see if a path can be found for an agreement, because the impact of a very, very tough Brexit on all participants in global trade will of course only intensify if we we are already dealing with the consequences of Covid-19, ”he said.
Talks met another setback last week after Ireland’s European Commissioner Phil Hogan, in charge of trade, resigned in the wake of the Golfgate scandal. This means that the EU negotiating team will undergo changes in the coming crisis weeks.
Donoho said negotiations will continue under the leadership of chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier as December 31 approaches, despite the recent turmoil.
“The European Commission will continue to have a very strong team and between Mr Barnier, the Commission and the new Commissioner, whoever he is, I am confident that the Commission’s work will continue at a very high level, which it did under Commissioner Hogan.” …
‘Golfgate’
This couple of weeks has been a tough one for the Irish government with Golfgate, a controversy over a dinner hosted by the Parliamentary Golf Society at a hotel in early August that sparked public outrage. More than 80 people from government and industry gathered for lunch the same week that some of the Covid-19 restrictions were reintroduced to the public.
Like Hogan, Irish Agriculture Minister Dara Kalliri resigned after news broke that he attended.
Following Hogan’s departure, Ireland is now under pressure to present two candidates for the EU commissioner, with several names circling around as possible elections. But doubts remain as to whether this person will keep the trading portfolio.
Irish Finance Minister Pashal Donoho at the World Economic Forum Annual Conference in Davos, Switzerland, 26 January 2018.
Simon Dawson | Bloomberg | Getty Images
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who heads the EU’s executive branch, said she wants her candidates for the position to be represented by one man and one woman as part of her efforts to create a gender-balanced Commission.
Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney, who was a familiar face in the Brexit negotiations, and Mairead McGuinness, Member and Vice President of the European Parliament, are the names advertised for the role.
Internal calls
Closer to home, Donoho is facing growing challenges as the economy reboots as average daily infections have increased, leading to re-imposition of some restrictions.
The wage subsidy scheme takes effect this week. This is an updated version of the temporary payroll subsidy scheme that covered the payroll of some employers to prevent job losses and was introduced in March when the pandemic began. According to the country’s tax office, this scheme cost the state more than 2.7 billion euros.
Many areas of the Irish economy reopened in the summer, but others are still in trouble. Pubs that do not serve food were due to reopen on August 31 after a series of delays in the quarantine easing schedule, but tax collectors hopes were shattered again…
Industry group for pubs noted problems with the new wage subsidy scheme, stating that this would exclude some part-time employees and that it would make it impossible to reopen some pubs if they were unable to retain those staff.
On Friday, the government announced an additional € 16 million pub support package, but industry groups dismissed it as a “paltry gesture.”
These are all the challenges Donoho will have to face as he scrutinizes the ledgers ahead of the October budget statement, which analyzes the measures announced in the July stimulus package and charts the way forward.
International taxation pressures also persist. Donoho said that negotiations for an agreement are still possible. OECD-level digital tax could rise again in 2020…
“I expect this process to resume later this year, and while I think some agreement is possible in 2020, I think it is more likely that some of this work will be completed initially. next year, “he said.
Any change in the taxation of large tech companies will affect Ireland, which is home to many regional bases for large tech companies.
“I think we should all try to find ways to make progress on tax issues without exacerbating existing trade difficulties,” he added.
