Barclay and Barnier in bid to find backstop breakthrough
EU Exit Secretary Stephen Barclay will hold talks with chief Brussels Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier today in a fresh attempt to push for a deal.
The Cabinet minister is to meet the EU diplomat in Brussels to discuss details of Boris Johnson’s plan for an alternative to the backstop measure for the Irish border. Downing Street officials admitted there were still significant obstacles to a deal but said progress had been made in recent weeks.
Britain handed a fourth informal policy paper to the EU negotiating team earlier this week. In one sign of progress, EU negotiators are understood to have agreed to proposals for the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont to have a veto over any agreements designed to avoid customs checks at the border with the Irish Republic.
Mr Johnson insisted this week the European Union had budged over a series of issues in recent weeks.
He said the bloc had accepted Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement could be reopened.
However, Downing Street added that the Benn Act, the legislation introduced by MPs aimed at taking a
no-deal Brexit on October 31 off the table, was making the negotiations more difficult.
“There’s no doubt it has hindered our negotiating position but the Prime Minister and colleagues, through hard work, have continued to try to make progress in the face of that piece of legislation,” Mr Johnson’s spokesman said. “But no one should be under any illusion there’s a long way to go.”
Officials see a European Council summit scheduled for October 17 to be a crunch moment for prospects of a deal.
Meanwhile, the European Parliament’s Brexit co-ordinator Guy Verhofstadt said the UK’s proposals must work to “preserve consumer safety, to protect our businesses and preserve the peace”.
He added: “So far UK proposals fall short on all three fronts.”