Brexit breakthrough!

Barnier blinks first and says trade talks will resume in London today

BREXIT talks will restart today after Michel Barnier said the EU was finally ready to compromise.

The EU’s chief negotiator will travel to London this afternoon to resume talks with British counterpart David Frost.

Negotiations will then run round the clock as the two sides race to clinch an agreement before the end of the Brexit transition in December.

The pound rose by 1.2 per cent against the euro on the news.

Whitehall sources said that with big gaps remaining between the two sides, there were no more than three weeks to secure an agreement in time for it to be ratified.

Downing Street announced last Friday that talks were ‘over’ after the EU insisted all remaining compromises must come from the UK. In a blunt statement, Boris Johnson said it was time to prepare for a No Deal exit.

But, in a conciliatory speech yesterday, Mr Barnier backed down, saying: ‘We will seek the necessary compromises on both sides in order to do our utmost to reach an agreement and we will do so right up until the last day.’

But he said ‘it takes two to make a deal’, adding: ‘We are not sure that’s the outcome we will obtain and that’s why we need to be ready to deal with the consequences of a possible No Deal scenario.’

A government source said the British team had ‘received the assurances we need’ to resume talks. The source added: ‘They have climbed down quite a bit since last week and we are now finally in a position where we can have a proper negotiation. But there is a long way to go and time is very, very tight.’

The main stumbling blocks remain fishing rights, the so- called ‘level playing field’ on things such as state aid subsidies, and the mechanism for resolving disputes.

Sources said these issues were likely to be settled by the Prime Minister and EU leaders at the very end if negotiators manage to close the gaps in all other areas.

A No 10 spokesman said Mr Johnson had been clear that ‘ a fundamental change in approach was needed from the EU from that shown in recent weeks’, and that Brussels had to show it was ‘serious about talking intensively, on all issues, and bringing the negotiation to a conclusion’.

The government source added: ‘ We welcome the fact that Mr Barnier acknowledged both points this morning, and additionally that movement would be needed from both sides in the talks if agreement was to be reached. It is clear that significant gaps remain between our positions in the most difficult areas,

‘They have climbed down quite a bit’

but we are ready, with the EU, to see if it is possible to bridge them in intensive talks.’

No 10 urged business to continue preparing for the possibility of No Deal, as it remains ‘entirely possible that negotiations will not succeed’.

A Whitehall source said organising the remaining talks was set to be a ‘logistical nightmare’.

Brussels is in near-total lockdown following a surge in Covid cases, while London was placed into Tier Two restrictions this week.

The two teams will hold talks in London from today until Sunday, with daily negotiations expected to continue in either the UK or Brussels, probably until around the middle of next month.

EU sources said the British government had wasted time with what they suggested was a ‘manufactured’ row that had ‘cost five days’.

‘ It does look like a complete panto,’ said one source close to the negotiations. ‘No one really believed in this one. It was too manufactured. Hopefully now the focus can return to substance.

‘This brings us back closer to a deal than where we were.’