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Germany leading push for stricter EU line in Brexit talks with UK With us or US? Barnier challenges May on the kind of society UK wants
(about 4 hours later)
Germany is leading EU27 states in pressuring their negotiating team to take a stricter line in Brexit talks with the UK, offering the British government no hope of discussions on a future relationship with the bloc unless a definitive concession on the financial settlement is made in the next few weeks. The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, has challenged Theresa May’s beleaguered government to address the fundamental question of whether Britain wants to deregulate and follow the US social and economic model or stay within the European mainstream.
At a meeting of ambassadors on Wednesday evening, the EU27 states told Michel Barnier, the bloc’s chief Brexit negotiator, of their “disappointment and surprise” at the UK government’s failure to offer any further details on the budget commitments it was willing to honour on the leaving the EU. Speaking in Rome, Barnier voiced his concern over recent comments by the US commerce secretary on a visit to London, with whom the trade secretary, Liam Fox, is in discussions over a future trade deal.
Talks between the negotiating parties resume in Brussels on Thursday, and one senior EU diplomat said Barnier was “under a bit of pressure” to ensure discussions do not develop beyond the unpicking of the opening withdrawal issues. “When I hear the US secretary of commerce, Wilbur Ross call, in London for the British to diverge with Europe to better converge towards others – towards less regulation, environmental, sanitary, food, probably also financial, fiscal and social – I’m wondering”, Barnier said. “The United Kingdom has chosen to leave the European Union. Will it also want to move away from the European model? That’s another question.
“There is behind this European regulatory framework the fundamental societal choices we hold: the social market economy, health protection, food security, fair and efficient financial regulation … it is up to the British to tell us whether they still adhere to the European model.
“Their answer is important because it directs the discussion on our future partnership and the conditions of its ratification.”
During his visit to the UK earlier this week, Ross said he was hopeful an initial scoping exercise on a UK-US trade deal could bear fruit, but that he would want to see the British government drop regulations that he believed did not have scientific foundation, such as the ban on US chlorinated chicken. Ross has also described the EU as protectionist.
Speaking as the EU and British Brexit negotiating teams resumed talks in Brussels without their principle negotiators, Barnier said the EU would not allow Britain to undercut the regulatory standards in place. “There will be no close commercial relationship without a level playing field’, he said.
He also emphasised that it was high time for the UK to provide clarity on how much of its estimated €60bn (£53bn) divorce bill it is willing to pay.
Germany is leading EU27 states in pressuring their negotiating team to take a stricter line in Brexit talks, offering the British government no hope of discussions on a future relationship with the bloc unless a definitive concession on the financial settlement is made in the next few weeks.
At a meeting of ambassadors on Wednesday evening, the EU27 states told Barnier of their “disappointment and surprise” at the UK government’s failure to offer any further details on the budget commitments it was willing to honour on the leaving the EU.
One senior EU diplomat said Barnier was “under a bit of pressure” by the member states to ensure discussions do not develop beyond the unpicking of the opening withdrawal issues.
“The member states want to be careful. We are not going to swim into the UK’s net,” one source said, on condition of anonymity.“The member states want to be careful. We are not going to swim into the UK’s net,” one source said, on condition of anonymity.
London insists there should be at least some talks on future arrangements at this stage in order help settle the opening withdrawal issues of the financial settlement, citizens’ rights and the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.London insists there should be at least some talks on future arrangements at this stage in order help settle the opening withdrawal issues of the financial settlement, citizens’ rights and the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.
The UK is also making a fresh push for bilateral talks with member states on the future right of UK nationals to vote in their adopted home nations in municipal and European elections.The UK is also making a fresh push for bilateral talks with member states on the future right of UK nationals to vote in their adopted home nations in municipal and European elections.
It is within the power of each of the member states to decide on its policy, but the European commission is blocking bilateral discussions on the subject, UK government sources said. “We benefit from having a single negotiating partner in the commission, and don’t want to change that, but if bilateral talks are what’s required to get people the right to vote, some flexibility will be required,” one Whitehall source said.It is within the power of each of the member states to decide on its policy, but the European commission is blocking bilateral discussions on the subject, UK government sources said. “We benefit from having a single negotiating partner in the commission, and don’t want to change that, but if bilateral talks are what’s required to get people the right to vote, some flexibility will be required,” one Whitehall source said.
Jacqueline Foster, the deputy leader of Conservative MEPs, said: “The UK set out a fair and reasonable offer on citizens’ rights which is nearly ready to be signed. One of the remaining issues is the right to vote and stand in elections, but there seems to be a catch-22.Jacqueline Foster, the deputy leader of Conservative MEPs, said: “The UK set out a fair and reasonable offer on citizens’ rights which is nearly ready to be signed. One of the remaining issues is the right to vote and stand in elections, but there seems to be a catch-22.
“The commission say it’s for the member states to sort out, but tell the member states they shouldn’t talk to the Brits.” “The commission say it’s for the member states to sort out, but tell the member states they shouldn’t talk to the Brits”.
The European parliament has denied the British claim that a deal on citizens’ rights was “within touching distance” and said London’s offer of a streamlined application system for EU nationals seeking to stay in the UK was inadequate.The European parliament has denied the British claim that a deal on citizens’ rights was “within touching distance” and said London’s offer of a streamlined application system for EU nationals seeking to stay in the UK was inadequate.
The EU27 intend to hold seminars to discuss the general terms of any transition deal and the principles of a future trading relationship next week, but the member states are insistent that Barnier’s negotiating team give a the UK a clear message that the bloc will make no further movement on their side on any issue pertaining to the future relationship until Theresa May makes a pledge on the estimated €60bn (£53bn) divorce bill. The latest round of talks kicked off as the European commission said the UK would have almost the slowest economic growth of any EU country when it leaves the bloc in 2019.
The leaders are to rule on whether sufficient progress has been made on the opening withdrawal issues at a summit in December, but that progress needs to be seen within two to three weeks to be able to move forward. Draft EU guidelines on a transition deal and the principles of a future trading relationship are meant to be drafted by 27 November, and discussed by ambassadors two days later. According to the commission’s autumn forecast, the British economy will grow 1.1% in 2019, only slightly ahead of Italy, and far behind the 1.9% expansion across the eurozone.
“This is our movement vis-a-vis the UK government. In the room [on Wednesday] there was strong disappointment and surprise that the UK has not picked up that it is not in December that we need movement from them, it is now,” said one EU diplomat. “That’s the nature of the EU. People need to go back to their capitals, speak to their finance ministries. It takes time.” The forecast is based on the theoretical assumption the EU and UK will maintain the status quo after Brexit day, but takes into account business uncertainty that is choking off investment.
Neither Barnier nor David Davis, Britain’s Brexit secretary, will attend the talks on Thursday. The concerns expressed to Barnier reflect irritation in some capitals at the belief that he offered Britain false hope over the consequences of May’s speech in Florence in October, when she committed to spending €20bn to cover the EU budget for two years after the UK leaves the EU, and made a vague promise to honour all its financial commitments.
The British had expected direct talks to begin on a transition deal, as Barnier had suggested was possible, but this was angrily rejected by the EU27 states until Davis provides further detail on the future commitments May was referring to in her speech.