EU Parliament President calls for Brexit talks to be delayed

• Adam Becket
 

• 10h
• 468

European Parliament President Antonio Tajani Getty Images/Sean Gallup

• The European Parliament president has said he will propose delaying Brexit talks.
• Negotiations are at a stalemate over the size of the divorce bill.
• Discussions over the future relationship might not start until 2018.

LONDON — Brexit negotiations should not be allowed to progress to the next stage until December, the president of the European Parliament has said, in the clearest sign that talks will be delayed.

Antonio Tajani, who is currently in charge of the Parliament, told Politico that he would propose to senior MEPs on Thursday the delaying of the European Council's decision on whether there has been "sufficient progress" in the first phase of negotiations, moving it from October to December.

He also said that the government had not given any "concrete proposals," only "very foggy proposals" so far.

The European Council, the body of the EU27 heads of state, was due to decide whether "sufficient progress" had been made on citizens' rights, the withdrawal settlement and the Irish border before giving negotiators a mandate to move talks onto the future relationship between the UK and EU.

However, there have been concerns that talks are at a stalemate over the size of the financial settlement the UK owes the EU after Brexit. Last week the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier said there has been no "decisive progress on any of the principle subjects."

If the decision on whether progress should be allowed was delayed until just before Christmas, talks about the future relationship would likely not begin until 2018.

Tajani said: "We have three irrevocable priorities which are: rights for three-and-a-half million EU citizens living in the UK; the payment of what the EU deserves — not a euro more nor a euro less; third point, the Good Friday Agreement, that has to give us a positive solution for the border between Ulster and the Republic of Ireland.

"Once we have reached an agreement on these three points, we can talk about the future. Without an agreement on this, we cannot talk about the future. So far we have noted that no concrete proposals have arrived, only very foggy proposals."

On Tuesday Brexit Secretary David Davis said that arguments over the withdrawal bill will continue throughout the process, telling MPs: "My expectation is that the money argument will go on for the full duration of this negotiation."

Tajani said that he would "ask the Council tomorrow [to extend the deadline] but it’s not our fault, but due to delays... And the Brits are the ones who will be most affected by it. It is not a tragedy, but we cannot postpone further than December."

Despite this, on Monday Prime Minister Theresa May ruled out delaying Britain's exit from the EU, with her spokesperson saying: "We will be leaving the European Union in March 2019."

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Trump is reportedly unlikely to consider nominating Gary Cohn as the next Fed chair

• Akin Oyedele
 

• 21h
• 3,264

Gary Cohn. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich

President Donald Trump is unlikely to consider Gary Cohn, his top economic adviser, as the nominee for Federal Reserve chair, The Wall Street Journalreported Wednesday. 

This is largely because of Cohn's public rebuke of Trump's initial response to the deadly white-supremacist riots in Charlottesville last month, the report said.

Cohn, who is Jewish, told the Financial Times that the administration must do more to condemn neo-Nazis.

The New York Times reported that he drafted a resignation letter but later changed his mind. 

Cohn, a former Goldman Sachs banker, has been considered the top contender to lead the Fed when Chair Janet Yellen's term expires in February 2018. Trump said in July that he was considering nominating Yellen to another four-year term. He's also reportedly considering Kevin Warsh, a former Fed governor who's currently a fellow at the Hoover Institution.

Earlier Wednesday, Stanley Fischer, the Fed's vice chairman, announced he would resign by mid-October, creating a fourth vacancy on the Board of Governors. 

SEE ALSO: Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer resigns

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Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer resigns

• Akin Oyedele
 

• Sep. 6, 2017, 10:46 AM
• 8,326

Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer.REUTERS/Jonathan Crosby

Stanley Fischer, the vice chairman of the Federal Reserve, plans to step down by October 13.

Fischer on Wednesday cited "personal reasons" for his decision in a letter to President Donald Trump.

"It has been a great privilege to serve on the Federal Reserve Board and, most especially, to work alongside Chair Yellen as well as many other dedicated and talented men and women throughout the Federal Reserve System," Fischer said in his resignation letter.

Fischer has served at the Fed for three years. His term was set to expire next June.

His resignation will create a fourth vacancy on the Fed's Board of Governors ahead of February, when Fed Chair Janet Yellen's term ends. She has said she would stay on for another term, though Trump could nominate someone else.

"What this tells us is that President Trump will control the Federal Reserve," Jaret Seiberg, an analyst at Cowen, said. "The only two holdovers are Lael Brainard and Jerome Powell. Both were Obama nominees."

In July, Trump nominated former Treasury undersecretary Randy Quarles as the Fed's vice chairman of supervision to oversee the banking industry.

The central bank is preparing to start unwinding the $4.5 trillion balance sheet it built up by buying bonds and other assets after the recession. This effort is another step the Fed is taking to gradually reverse its crisis-era policies that are less necessary now that the economy is in an eighth year of expansion.

Fischer is widely considered a centrist on monetary policy whose views are closely aligned to Yellen's. "He represented the board internationally with distinction and led our efforts to foster financial stability," Yellen said in a statement. "I'm personally grateful for his friendship and his service."

Fischer, 74, was governor of the Bank of Israel for eight years before joining the Fed. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Here's his resignation letter:

Federal Reserve

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