Brexit Britain in the midst of an economic boom as the EU “somewhere between undercapitalized and bankrupt” | UK | New UK News

The total number of vaccine doses administered in the UK reached nearly 46.3 million on Sunday, with 498,430 seconds and 142,215 first additional doses reported. More than 33.7 million people have now received their first dose and nearly 12.6 million are fully vaccinated as the NHS announced it would establish when 40 to 43 year olds could make appointments “in the near future. next days”. Health Secretary Matt Hancock hailed the “good news” of being able to open jabs to 44-year-olds after “a few huge days for vaccinations”.

He added: “We will continue to work in the age group to make sure everyone can have the offer all at once by the end of July – all adults.”

Chris Clothier, an investment manager at CG Asset Management, is set to revive the economy following the heroic response to the coronavirus.

He told Express.co.uk: “I think clearly we were fortunate or smart to get the pandemic under control in the UK and have a successful vaccination program in place.

“I think this will give the economy a short-term boost, compared to Europe.

“I think the long-term effects of Brexit are quite difficult to discern.

“I suspect that people on both sides of the debate tend to overstate the likely long-term effects.

“I think Brexit has been very disruptive, so once loved ones following the rebound resulting from a successful vaccine rollout have waned, I think the short term [prospects of deals] will be poor as we work through the wrinkles of commerce. “

The European Commission has said its vaccination campaign is now underway to ensure inoculation of 70% of the EU’s adult population by mid-July.

It comes after their jab campaign got off to a scorching start, with crises and delays, especially with regard to the AstraZeneca vaccine.

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As of Saturday, 128 million doses had been administered to 21% of the EU population, according to an AFP news agency tally.

But Mr. Clothier says the bloc has serious financial problems to resolve.

He added: “Having said that, I think that Europe has a lot of problems that it is struggling to solve.

“Its financial system is essentially between under-capitalized and bankrupt and is therefore unable to provide credit effectively across the EU.

“Second, they are struggling to mobilize the EU stimulus fund, which is an example of how very difficult it is to coordinate Member States to move forward and get things done.

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“I think the UK and the EU both face significant challenges, even though they are idiosyncratic to each.”

Europe has eight months after ratifying the NextGenerationEU stimulus plan, but not all EU member states agree.

The € 750 billion (£ 652 billion) fund aims to mitigate the economic impact of COVID-19.

But Carnegie Europe experts predicted, “only a quarter of the money will reach beneficiaries by the end of 2023”, working at the current rate.

The plan was boosted last week after Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court rejected a request to block the entry into force of the EU’s stimulus fund.

The complaint, filed last month by the university association Bundnis Burgerwille (Will of the Citizens’ Alliance), argued that it is against Germany’s fiscal sovereignty, enshrined in the country’s constitution.

The court said the complaint was “neither out of hand nor manifestly unfounded,” but that granting an injunction that would prevent the German president from ratifying the fund, thus blocking the process for the bloc as a whole. , outweighs the risk of violating the German constitution.

But recent developments in Poland continue to pose an obstacle.

The government is “on the brink of collapse” after one of the three ruling coalition parties threatened to reject the country’s recovery and resilience plan.

Poland is expected to be one of NextGenerationEU’s biggest beneficiaries, with € 58m (£ 50.4m) set aside for the following years.

United Poland, one of the parties in the coalition led by Law and Justice (PiS), opposes joint borrowing and repayment of money as well as the rule of law mechanism promoted by the European Parliament .

The Civic Coalition, the largest opposition group in Poland, has also said it could vote against the plans because it fears the current government is spending the money fairly and transparently.