World: Brexit talks face ‘ very big gap’ in new round

EU wants to see progress in key areas of citizen rights, divorce bill first

Britain and the EU kicked off a third round of Brexit talks Monday still sharply divided over what comes first – London’s future relationship with the bloc or the costly divorce settlement.

The EU says there has to be “suffi cient progress” in three key areas – EU citizen rights, Northern Ireland’s border and the exit bill – before it turns to post- Brexit arrangements, possibly beginning in October.

Britain says the two strands should be negotiated in parallel, arguing that progress on a free trade deal may even help resolve other sticky issues such as the future EU- UK border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

That is a complete no- go for Brussels, with offi cials saying they expected little progress in bridging a “very big gap” at this week’s talks.

They also blamed Britain for a “lack of substance” despite a fl urry of position papers they said were strong on aspiration but short on detail.

EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier meanwhile listed on Twitter the EU’s own negotiating documents, noting: “EU positions clear and transparent since day one.”

Barnier meets his British counterpart David Davis late afternoon for a first exchange, followed by three days of talks and a joint press conference.

Both sides have repeatedly warned that the clock is ticking down to the March 2019 Brexit deadline and that they are the ones doing their best to make progress.

Davis said Monday this week’s talks were all about “driving forward the technical discussions across all the issues.”

“In order to do that, we’ll require fl exibility and imagina- tion from both sides,” he said.

Asked about the British approach, the European Commission refused to be drawn Monday.

“Let’s have the negotiators do their negotiation ... as for fl exibility, we are working within the mandate given us by the European Council [ of member states],” EU spokesperson Lucia Caudet said.