BREXIT CRUNCH TALKS DOWN TO WIRE
Europeans warned Boris could walk away over Macron demand
BRITAIN returned to the negotiating table i n Brussels yesterday in a ‘final throw of the dice’ to secure a Brexit deal.
With less than four weeks before the transition period ends, the UK and the Eu may have only hours of talks remaining in which to clinch a breakthrough.
The Prime Minister has already told his chief negotiator, David Frost, he will not sign any deal that binds the UK to obeying future Eu laws.
The extraordinary demand – tabled by Eu negotiator Michel Barnier last week under pressure from French President Emmanuel Macron – has plunged the talks into crisis. Mr Macron, who threatened to
veto any deal he does not like, wants the agreement to include the power to levy punitive tariffs if the UK fails to stick close to EU rules on issues such as workers’ rights and the environment.
The last-minute demand, branded ‘unacceptable’ by Boris Johnson, has thrown a hand grenade into negotiations and alarmed the French President’s fellow EU leaders.
‘Prime Minister is not bluffing’
Ireland yesterday appealed to both sides to compromise to avoid No Deal and a close ally of Mr Macron acknowledged that German Chancellor Angela Merkel is still pushing for an agreement.
In a further sign of tensions, Dutch sources were last night indicating that the Netherlands, which has stuck close to France in negotiations, was now willing to compromise on fishing.
Lord Frost travelled to Brussels yesterday to resume negotiations with Mr Barnier, in what Government sources described as a ‘final throw of the dice’. While neither side was predicting an immediate breakthrough, one former mandarin said the dispute bore all the hallmarks of a confected row that often precedes a deal. But a source close to the talks said the PM could walk away as early as tonight unless the EU backs down, adding: ‘I thinks it’s fair to say the Prime Minister isn’t bluffing.
‘There won’t be any agreement if the EU do not recognise this reality. We’ll only keep talking if there is some movement and if we think there’s any point.’
One senior Downing Street figure yesterday said the chances of a deal were ‘at best 50:50’.
In a defiant move, the PM will tonight ask Tory MPs to re-insert clauses in the Internal Market Bill, which were thrown out by the Lords after ministers admitted they would break international law.
Mr Barnier has warned that the move would put the talks ‘in crisis’ by breaking the existing Brexit deal. But Downing Street insists the measures are needed to prevent the
EU driving a wedge between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK in the event of No Deal.
In the first sign of a possible breakthrough, Dutch sources said the EU and UK were last night discussing a possible compromise on fishing that would see the EU drop its demand for a ten-year transition to a new quota system.
But the two sides remained deadlocked on the UK’s right to diverge from EU rules after Brexit.
Mr Barnier was due to brief EU ambassadors this morning on possible areas for compromise. Mr Johnson has pencilled in another phone call with European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen this evening to discuss whether the talks are worth continuing.
One government source confirmed that the drawn-out negotiations are ‘entering the last 48 hours’.
A leaked Cabinet Office document setting out the Government’s ‘reasonable worst-case scenario’ for No Deal warned that it could lead to severe disruption of vital supplies, including medicine.
Environment Secretary George Eustice acknowledged tariffs levied in a No Deal Brexit would lead to higher food prices, but insisted the rise would be relatively modest.
Former PM Gordon Brown warned that No Deal would spark an ‘economic war’ with the EU. ‘Food, drugs and everything else would find it difficult to get into the country without tariffs and without hold-ups,’ he told Sky News.
In a series of interviews yesterday, Mr Eustice accused the EU of introducing ‘a whole load of additional demands’ late in the negotiations, adding: ‘There is no point denying that what happened late last week was a setback.’
He said the PM was willing to give assurances that the UK would not slash standards in areas such as environmental protection and workers’ rights from their current levels.
But he said Mr Johnson would never sign off a deal that met Mr Macron’s demand for Britain to continue following EU rules as they evolve in future.
Ex-Treasury mandarin Nick Macpherson said: ‘The UK needs a deal. The EU wants a deal. To convince their constituencies, there has to be a lot of drama in the coming days. But there will be one. There always is – unless one of the parties makes a gross miscalculation.’
EU leaders are due to hold a crunch summit on Thursday, which is seen as the last chance to sign off a deal.