Michel Barnier torpedoes PM's bid for early Brexit trade talks

Michel Barnier said Britain had not made “sufficient progress” in the so-called divorce talks
AP
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Theresa May's attempt to secure early trade talks was torpedoed today by Europe’s top negotiator Michel Barnier.

He claimed that Britain had not made “sufficient progress” in the so-called divorce talks, including on a massive cash payment estimated at £40 billion or more.

Mr Barnier warned that at the current rate it could take “months” rather than weeks to unlock negotiations on trade or a vital transition deal.

Striking a hardline tone, he ruled there could be “no possible link” between the key terms of a departure deal, including the cash payment, and the success of future trade talks, as sought by the UK.

“There is no link, there is no possible link, the way we see it, no possible link between that discussion and a discussion about the separation issues and the commitments entered into in the past,” he said.

“We have had a constructive week, yes, but we are not yet there in terms of achieving sufficient progress. Further work is needed in the coming weeks and months.” However he welcomed Mrs May’s Florence speech, which he said had injected a “good dynamic” to the talks.

His warning was a blow to Brexit Secretary David Davis, who minutes earlier had hinted that Britain would be more willing to pay for things once it went into trade talks.

Speaking after the conclusion of the fourth round of talks between officials in Brussels, Mr Davis said the Prime Minister had made clear the UK would fund its past commitments, but added: “We are not yet at the stage of specifying exactly what those commitments are.”

He said “further discussion and pragmatism” were needed on some issues, implying that a deal should not be held back by unbending principles.

In response Mr Barnier said he could not recommend to the 27 other EU countries that Britain had made enough progress to move on to the key trade issues.

He welcomed Mrs May’s promise to “honour commitments” on money, but was dismayed that British negotiators had made clear they were only talking about paying the budget shares for 2019 and 2020.

“For the EU, the only way to reach sufficient progress is that all commitments undertaken at 28 [countries] are honoured at 28,” he said.

Mr Barnier continued: “Being very frank, objectively, I see no logical and coherent link between a discussion that we will have and open as soon as possible, and which must be ambitious about the future, what I’ve been calling the new partnership between the United Kingdom and the European Union in many areas, trade, security and defence, fighting terrorism, perhaps other areas as well. That is a discussion for the future.”

Mr Barnier listed stumbling blocks, including Britain’s refusal to let the European Court of Justice settle disputes over the rights of EU citizens in the UK. “We failed to agree that the ECJ must play an indispensable role,” he said. “This is a stumbling block.”

Earlier European Parliament leaders attempted to block trade negotiations and EU auditors warned that Britain’s divorce bill could be even higher.

MEPs drafted a resolution in the Brussels-based parliament that opposed Mrs May’s plea for negotiations to move onto trade because she had not given enough ground so far.

It warned EU leaders not to budge unless there was a “major breakthrough” on money, citizen rights and the thorny Irish border issue in the next three weeks. MEPs will vote on the resolution on Tuesday.

EU auditors issued figures showing that Europe’s backlog of spending commitments was ballooning — with the sum being demanded from Britain likely to go up by four per cent.

A bill amounting to a record €238.8 billion was outstanding, said the auditors, which would have to be paid in future budgets. The total — of which some 13 per cent is being billed to Britain — was due to keep rising over the coming three years as unfunded liabilities for pensions, plus promises to build major infrastructure projects, add up and are rolled over.

It means the Government could be asked for more than €30 billion (around £26 billion) between now and 2020, on top of a sum of around £18 billion for current spending.

Mrs May used a speech this morning to say that a breakdown in trade, including in financial services, would harm both Britain and the EU.

The head of the European Court of Auditors, Klaus-Heiner Lehne, said: “Clearing this backlog and preventing a new one should be priorities, bearing in mind the planning of EU spending in the period starting in 2020.”

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said the UK should become “the world’s leading ... agitator for free trade” when it leaves the EU. He made the remarks ahead of the launch of a think tank, the Institute for Free Trade.

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