The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Negotiations dominated by row over divorce bill
Brussels claims there has been no decisive progress on substantive issues
A row over the Brexit divorce bill has dominated the latest round of talks between the UK and the EU, with both sides voicing their frustrations.
Brexit secretary David Davis said there had been a “tough” discussion over the fee Brussels wants the UK to pay to settle its obligations after British officials challenged the legal basis of the demand.
Brussels’ chief negotiator Michel Barnier said there had been no “decisive progress” on key issues and the two sides were still “quite far” away from meeting the test of making sufficient progress for talks on future trading arrangements to begin.
No figure has yet been put on the payment, but European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has suggested it could come in at around 60 billion euro (£55bn), while unconfirmed reports have put it as high as 100bn euro (£92bn).
The Brexit secretary said there had been “some concrete progress” during the latest round of talks but again called for the EU to shift from its rigid approach to the negotiations, which mean that talks on the future relationship cannot begin until sufficient progress has been made on priority issues including the financial settlement, citizens’ rights and other issues relating to the withdrawal.
Mr Barnier is expected to present his assessment of whether enough progress has been made to move on to the second phase of talks, looking at the future relationship, ahead of a summit of EU leaders in October.
“At the current state of progress we are quite far from being able to say that sufficient progress has taken place,” he said.
He hit out at the “impossible” demands made by the UK over its future relationship outside the single market.
He added: “In some proposals, I see a sort of nostalgia in the form of specific requests which would amount to continuing to enjoy the benefits of single market membership, without actually being part of it.”
Mr Davis shot back: “I would not confuse a belief in the free market for nostalgia.”