Jean-Marc Puissesseau, chief executive of the Port of Calais in France. The port has spent 6 million euros on facilities for customs officers, updated signage around freshly painted roads and huge extra parking lots for lorries. Bloomberg
Jean-Marc Puissesseau, chief executive of the Port of Calais in France. The port has spent 6 million euros on facilities for customs officers, updated signage around freshly painted roads and huge extra parking lots for lorries. Bloomberg
Jean-Marc Puissesseau, chief executive of the Port of Calais in France. The port has spent 6 million euros on facilities for customs officers, updated signage around freshly painted roads and huge extra parking lots for lorries. Bloomberg
Jean-Marc Puissesseau, chief executive of the Port of Calais in France. The port has spent 6 million euros on facilities for customs officers, updated signage around freshly painted roads and huge ext

Europe’s ports may have spent millions on Brexit for nothing


  • English
  • Arabic

The port of Calais on France’s northern coast has spent €6 million (Dh24.41m) on facilities for customs officers, updated signage around freshly painted roads and huge extra parking lots for trucks. It may all end up being pointless.

What looks like the expansion of a transit hub in the world’s busiest shipping area is more an insurance policy against upheaval from Britain’s tortuous journey out of the European Union. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is trying to get a deal over the line this week to make good on his promise to leave by the end of the month.

It’s a similar story along the continental coastline of Northern Europe, from Roscoff in France to Esbjerg in Denmark, as well as across the Irish Sea in Dublin. Ports have spent millions of euros to prepare, add staff and run drills for the new checks in an effort to limit backlogs of traffic, all the while knowing it might be a waste of time and money. The current October 31 deadline is already seven months later than the original.

“The uncertainty is very difficult to manage for your nerves,” Jean-Marc Puissesseau, the chief executive of the company that runs the Calais seaport, said last week. “We have been in constant meetings with the French state, regional authorities, business partners, the customs office and the police. We are fed up.”

A new 'orange zone' sign for UK livestock, food cargo and passenger customs checks with a 'green zone' traffic sign sits on display in a parking lot at the Port of Calais. Bloomberg
A new 'orange zone' sign for UK livestock, food cargo and passenger customs checks with a 'green zone' traffic sign sits on display in a parking lot at the Port of Calais. Bloomberg

The effort has echoes of the millennium bug, when companies braced for possible chaos as computers entered the year 2000. But this time it’s also physical infrastructure as well as back room technology, and so long as the clock is ticking down with no agreement or extension, the Brexit equivalent of software meltdown still looms.

Ports up and down the coast next to Britain must enforce the EU’s single-market rules from day one while the British would effectively be free to do what they like. While the government in London has staged mock bottlenecks of trucks headed for the continent via Dover, the French, Dutch, Danish and Irish have had to install infrastructure just in case.

“What we’re hearing is that customs checks will be brought in gradually and not on day one of Brexit,” said Jean-Marc Roué, the chairman of shipping operator Brittany Ferries, which is based on the port of Roscoff on France’s western tip. “That isn’t the case on French soil because the customs code is European, not French. It’s a European code that France is obliged to apply.”

The odds on the UK and the EU securing a deal to keep trade unhindered are changing every day. Last week started with stalemate and ended with hope. While Johnson has vowed to make Brexit happen regardless, British legislation states that he must seek a delay rather than crash the country out of the EU.

Whatever the outcome, how Europe’s ports deal with the fallout will be crucial. A slowdown in the global economy is already hitting trade flows, and Brexit would just compound that decline. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development calculates that exports from other EU countries to the UK would fall by 16 per cent because of higher trade costs should Britain leave without a deal.

France has hired 600 customs officers and plans to recruit another 100 to deal with the task of reinstating borders on trade routes that until now have flourished from over a quarter of a century of free trade.

Simply reverting to written declarations of goods being transported would be unmanageable with modern-day volumes of trade, according to French customs officials. Instead, they have created an “intelligent border” that integrates its computer systems with those of ferry companies.

“The direction of history is towards integration and customs unions, and now we are presented with a disunion,” Laurence Coredo, a chief customs officer for the Normandy region, said last week as her team searched a lorry on the docks of Le Havre during a Brexit drill. “It’s completely unprecedented.”

War gaming what might happen is tough because of so many unknowns, not least the kind of divorce the UK and EU are headed for. Roué at Brittany Ferries said ports like Le Havre may benefit because longer crossings compared with Calais give more time for the intelligent borders to function smoothly.

The burning question for ports up and down the coast, though, is whether delays in the UK could jam up facilities there and then spill over to Europe.

Port managers in Britain expect some disruption, though say apocalyptic predictions are overdone. The Port of Dover, which handled a sixth of the UK’s trade in goods, is “100 per cent ready,” chief executive Doug Bannister said last month. But some of his counterparts on the continent reckon any snarl-ups will be British.

“We don’t expect any problems at our end and I think that it will mainly be the English ports that will face delays and bottlenecks after a hard Brexit,” said Dennis Jul Pedersen, harbour director at Port Esbjerg in Denmark. He said ships eventually could directly dock from Scotland as exporters avoid travelling on congested roads to Dover in southeast England.

On the North Sea at Rotterdam, Europe’s largest port, chief executive Allard Castelein has confidence in the contingency planning — at least his own. “We are as well prepared as we could be,” he said. “If they haven’t, we still are in dire straits.”

A sign for the city of Calais stands near a barbwire security fence on a road leading to the Port of Calais. Bloomberg
A sign for the city of Calais stands near a barbwire security fence on a road leading to the Port of Calais. Bloomberg

The biggest fears are in Calais, though. It’s the closest French city to England, just 34 kilometres from the coastline near Dover, and has been a bustling centre of trade and shipping since the Middle Ages.

According to the French government, 60 per cent of the people and goods crossing between the UKL and EU goes through the port of Calais and Channel Tunnel rail link, which is also accessed in the city. Crucially, as much as 80 per cent of the produce requiring new sanitary inspections will pass through after Brexit.

Mr Puissesseau says the Port of Calais has been 'in constant meetings with the French state, regional authorities, business partners, the customs office and the police'. Bloomberg
Mr Puissesseau says the Port of Calais has been 'in constant meetings with the French state, regional authorities, business partners, the customs office and the police'. Bloomberg

Already this year, lorry traffic is down 5 per cent to 6 per cent and passenger traffic has tumbled 10 per cent, said Mr Puissesseau, the port chief. There was a spike in activity in March as businesses built stocks before the initial Brexit deadline, but that’s since faded and — to his surprise — there’s been no rebound ahead of the October deadline. He’s hoping the recent start of a new rail freight terminal will cushion the blow.

The plan is for goods declarations to be processed electronically during the crossing from the UK. Lorry drivers will receive a colour code before disembarking in France — green to exit the port, orange to proceed to inspections at the newly expanded facilities. Mr Puissesseau pointed at horse boxes disembarking from a ferry as an example of what would become a routine inspection after Brexit.

Still, if somehow the UK remained in the EU, Mr Puissesseau said he wouldn’t worry about the lost investment. “The party in Calais would go on for two weeks — there would be Beaujolais flowing through the streets,” he said. “It’d be the first time so much money had been invested for so much fun.”

ELIO

Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett

Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina

Rating: 4/5

What can you do?

Document everything immediately; including dates, times, locations and witnesses

Seek professional advice from a legal expert

You can report an incident to HR or an immediate supervisor

You can use the Ministry of Human Resources and Emiratisation’s dedicated hotline

In criminal cases, you can contact the police for additional support

Sole survivors
  • Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
  • George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
  • Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
  • Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
The%C2%A0specs%20
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RESULTS

Bantamweight: Victor Nunes (BRA) beat Azizbek Satibaldiev (KYG). Round 1 KO

Featherweight: Izzeddin Farhan (JOR) beat Ozodbek Azimov (UZB). Round 1 rear naked choke

Middleweight: Zaakir Badat (RSA) beat Ercin Sirin (TUR). Round 1 triangle choke

Featherweight: Ali Alqaisi (JOR) beat Furkatbek Yokubov (UZB). Round 1 TKO

Featherweight: Abu Muslim Alikhanov (RUS) beat Atabek Abdimitalipov (KYG). Unanimous decision

Catchweight 74kg: Mirafzal Akhtamov (UZB) beat Marcos Costa (BRA). Split decision

Welterweight: Andre Fialho (POR) beat Sang Hoon-yu (KOR). Round 1 TKO

Lightweight: John Mitchell (IRE) beat Arbi Emiev (RUS). Round 2 RSC (deep cuts)

Middleweight: Gianni Melillo (ITA) beat Mohammed Karaki (LEB)

Welterweight: Handesson Ferreira (BRA) beat Amiran Gogoladze (GEO). Unanimous decision

Flyweight (Female): Carolina Jimenez (VEN) beat Lucrezia Ria (ITA), Round 1 rear naked choke

Welterweight: Daniel Skibinski (POL) beat Acoidan Duque (ESP). Round 3 TKO

Lightweight: Martun Mezhlumyan (ARM) beat Attila Korkmaz (TUR). Unanimous decision

Bantamweight: Ray Borg (USA) beat Jesse Arnett (CAN). Unanimous decision

MATCH INFO

Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid

When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid

Know before you go
  • Jebel Akhdar is a two-hour drive from Muscat airport or a six-hour drive from Dubai. It’s impossible to visit by car unless you have a 4x4. Phone ahead to the hotel to arrange a transfer.
  • If you’re driving, make sure your insurance covers Oman.
  • By air: Budget airlines Air Arabia, Flydubai and SalamAir offer direct routes to Muscat from the UAE.
  • Tourists from the Emirates (UAE nationals not included) must apply for an Omani visa online before arrival at evisa.rop.gov.om. The process typically takes several days.
  • Flash floods are probable due to the terrain and a lack of drainage. Always check the weather before venturing into any canyons or other remote areas and identify a plan of escape that includes high ground, shelter and parking where your car won’t be overtaken by sudden downpours.

 

pakistan Test squad

Azhar Ali (capt), Shan Masood, Abid Ali, Imam-ul-Haq, Asad Shafiq, Babar Azam, Fawad Alam, Haris Sohail, Imran Khan, Kashif Bhatti, Mohammad Rizwan (wk), Naseem Shah, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Abbas, Yasir Shah, Usman Shinwari

The Saudi Cup race card

1 The Jockey Club Local Handicap (TB) 1,800m (Dirt) $500,000

2 The Riyadh Dirt Sprint (TB) 1,200m (D) $1.500,000

3 The 1351 Turf Sprint 1,351m (Turf) $1,000,000

4 The Saudi Derby (TB) 1600m (D) $800,000

5 The Neom Turf Cup (TB) 2,100m (T) $1,000,000

6 The Obaiya Arabian Classic (PB) 2,000m (D) $1,900,000

7 The Red Sea Turf Handicap (TB) 3,000m (T) $2,500,000

8 The Saudi Cup (TB) 1,800m (D) $20,000,000

Key facilities
  • Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
  • Premier League-standard football pitch
  • 400m Olympic running track
  • NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
  • 600-seat auditorium
  • Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
  • An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
  • Specialist robotics and science laboratories
  • AR and VR-enabled learning centres
  • Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
How The Debt Panel's advice helped readers in 2019

December 11: 'My husband died, so what happens to the Dh240,000 he owes in the UAE?'

JL, a housewife from India, wrote to us about her husband, who died earlier this month. He left behind an outstanding loan of Dh240,000 and she was hoping to pay it off with an insurance policy he had taken out. She also wanted to recover some of her husband’s end-of-service liabilities to help support her and her son.

“I have no words to thank you for helping me out,” she wrote to The Debt Panel after receiving the panellists' comments. “The advice has given me an idea of the present status of the loan and how to take it up further. I will draft a letter and send it to the email ID on the bank’s website along with the death certificate. I hope and pray to find a way out of this.”

November 26:  ‘I owe Dh100,000 because my employer has not paid me for a year’

SL, a financial services employee from India, left the UAE in June after quitting his job because his employer had not paid him since November 2018. He owes Dh103,800 on four debts and was told by the panellists he may be able to use the insolvency law to solve his issue. 

SL thanked the panellists for their efforts. "Indeed, I have some clarity on the consequence of the case and the next steps to take regarding my situation," he says. "Hopefully, I will be able to provide a positive testimony soon."

October 15: 'I lost my job and left the UAE owing Dh71,000. Can I return?'

MS, an energy sector employee from South Africa, left the UAE in August after losing his Dh12,000 job. He was struggling to meet the repayments while securing a new position in the UAE and feared he would be detained if he returned. He has now secured a new job and will return to the Emirates this month.

“The insolvency law is indeed a relief to hear,” he says. "I will not apply for insolvency at this stage. I have been able to pay something towards my loan and credit card. As it stands, I only have a one-month deficit, which I will be able to recover by the end of December." 

PROFILE OF SWVL

Started: April 2017

Founders: Mostafa Kandil, Ahmed Sabbah and Mahmoud Nouh

Based: Cairo, Egypt

Sector: transport

Size: 450 employees

Investment: approximately $80 million

Investors include: Dubai’s Beco Capital, US’s Endeavor Catalyst, China’s MSA, Egypt’s Sawari Ventures, Sweden’s Vostok New Ventures, Property Finder CEO Michael Lahyani

Indoor cricket in a nutshell
Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai

16 Indoor cricket matches are 16 overs per side
8 There are eight players per team
9 There have been nine Indoor Cricket World Cups for men. Australia have won every one.
5 Five runs are deducted from the score when a wickets falls
4 Batsmen bat in pairs, facing four overs per partnership

Scoring In indoor cricket, runs are scored by way of both physical and bonus runs. Physical runs are scored by both batsmen completing a run from one crease to the other. Bonus runs are scored when the ball hits a net in different zones, but only when at least one physical run is score.

Zones

A Front net, behind the striker and wicketkeeper: 0 runs
B Side nets, between the striker and halfway down the pitch: 1 run
C Side nets between halfway and the bowlers end: 2 runs
D Back net: 4 runs on the bounce, 6 runs on the full

Our legal consultant

Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais

Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.

Schedule
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The specs

AT4 Ultimate, as tested

Engine: 6.2-litre V8

Power: 420hp

Torque: 623Nm

Transmission: 10-speed automatic

Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)

On sale: Now

In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
  • Technology expert in robotics and automation: Dh20,000 to Dh40,000 
  • Energy engineer: Dh25,000 to Dh30,000 
  • Production engineer: Dh30,000 to Dh40,000 
  • Data-driven supply chain management professional: Dh30,000 to Dh50,000 
  • HR leader: Dh40,000 to Dh60,000 
  • Engineering leader: Dh30,000 to Dh55,000 
  • Project manager: Dh55,000 to Dh65,000 
  • Senior reservoir engineer: Dh40,000 to Dh55,000 
  • Senior drilling engineer: Dh38,000 to Dh46,000 
  • Senior process engineer: Dh28,000 to Dh38,000 
  • Senior maintenance engineer: Dh22,000 to Dh34,000 
  • Field engineer: Dh6,500 to Dh7,500
  • Field supervisor: Dh9,000 to Dh12,000
  • Field operator: Dh5,000 to Dh7,000
The bio

Favourite food: Japanese

Favourite car: Lamborghini

Favourite hobby: Football

Favourite quote: If your dreams don’t scare you, they are not big enough

Favourite country: UAE

Strait of Hormuz

Fujairah is a crucial hub for fuel storage and is just outside the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route linking Middle East oil producers to markets in Asia, Europe, North America and beyond.

The strait is 33 km wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just three km wide in either direction. Almost a fifth of oil consumed across the world passes through the strait.

Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strait, a move that would risk inviting geopolitical and economic turmoil.

Last month, Iran issued a new warning that it would block the strait, if it was prevented from using the waterway following a US decision to end exemptions from sanctions for major Iranian oil importers.

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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
 
Started: 2021
 
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
 
Based: Tunisia 
 
Sector: Water technology 
 
Number of staff: 22 
 
Investment raised: $4 million 
Moon Music

Artist: Coldplay

Label: Parlophone/Atlantic

Number of tracks: 10

Rating: 3/5

Essentials

The flights
Etihad and Emirates fly direct from the UAE to Delhi from about Dh950 return including taxes.
The hotels
Double rooms at Tijara Fort-Palace cost from 6,670 rupees (Dh377), including breakfast.
Doubles at Fort Bishangarh cost from 29,030 rupees (Dh1,641), including breakfast. Doubles at Narendra Bhawan cost from 15,360 rupees (Dh869). Doubles at Chanoud Garh cost from 19,840 rupees (Dh1,122), full board. Doubles at Fort Begu cost from 10,000 rupees (Dh565), including breakfast.
The tours 
Amar Grover travelled with Wild Frontiers. A tailor-made, nine-day itinerary via New Delhi, with one night in Tijara and two nights in each of the remaining properties, including car/driver, costs from £1,445 (Dh6,968) per person.

Honeymoonish
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About Karol Nawrocki

• Supports military aid for Ukraine, unlike other eurosceptic leaders, but he will oppose its membership in western alliances.

• A nationalist, his campaign slogan was Poland First. "Let's help others, but let's take care of our own citizens first," he said on social media in April.

• Cultivates tough-guy image, posting videos of himself at shooting ranges and in boxing rings.

• Met Donald Trump at the White House and received his backing.

Company%C2%A0profile
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The specs: 2018 Nissan Altima


Price, base / as tested: Dh78,000 / Dh97,650

Engine: 2.5-litre in-line four-cylinder

Power: 182hp @ 6,000rpm

Torque: 244Nm @ 4,000rpm

Transmission: Continuously variable tranmission

Fuel consumption, combined: 7.6L / 100km

GAC GS8 Specs

Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo

Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh149,900

UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

21 Lessons for the 21st Century

Yuval Noah Harari, Jonathan Cape
 

The Breadwinner

Director: Nora Twomey

Starring: Saara Chaudry,  Soma Chhaya,  Laara Sadiq 

Three stars

Lexus LX700h specs

Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor

Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm

Transmission: 10-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh590,000

Teaching your child to save

Pre-school (three - five years)

You can’t yet talk about investing or borrowing, but introduce a “classic” money bank and start putting gifts and allowances away. When the child wants a specific toy, have them save for it and help them track their progress.

Early childhood (six - eight years)

Replace the money bank with three jars labelled ‘saving’, ‘spending’ and ‘sharing’. Have the child divide their allowance into the three jars each week and explain their choices in splitting their pocket money. A guide could be 25 per cent saving, 50 per cent spending, 25 per cent for charity and gift-giving.

Middle childhood (nine - 11 years)

Open a bank savings account and help your child establish a budget and set a savings goal. Introduce the notion of ‘paying yourself first’ by putting away savings as soon as your allowance is paid.

Young teens (12 - 14 years)

Change your child’s allowance from weekly to monthly and help them pinpoint long-range goals such as a trip, so they can start longer-term saving and find new ways to increase their saving.

Teenage (15 - 18 years)

Discuss mutual expectations about university costs and identify what they can help fund and set goals. Don’t pay for everything, so they can experience the pride of contributing.

Young adulthood (19 - 22 years)

Discuss post-graduation plans and future life goals, quantify expenses such as first apartment, work wardrobe, holidays and help them continue to save towards these goals.

* JP Morgan Private Bank 

Dust and sand storms compared

Sand storm

  • Particle size: Larger, heavier sand grains
  • Visibility: Often dramatic with thick "walls" of sand
  • Duration: Short-lived, typically localised
  • Travel distance: Limited 
  • Source: Open desert areas with strong winds

Dust storm

  • Particle size: Much finer, lightweight particles
  • Visibility: Hazy skies but less intense
  • Duration: Can linger for days
  • Travel distance: Long-range, up to thousands of kilometres
  • Source: Can be carried from distant regions