EU Brexit team goes hi-tech to outfox spies
THE European Commission has installed Mission Impossible-style fingerprint scanners to protect its Brexit team – as it fears British spy agencies might be eavesdropping.
Michel Barnier and his hand-picked team of seasoned negotiators are on a restricted list of officials with clearance to enter the offices of Taskforce 50, the department charged with securing the best possible deal for the EU from the ongoing Article 50 negotiations.
The offices, on the fifth floor of the commission’s Berlaymont HQ in Brussels, require both a badge and fingerprint identification, and it are guarded by G4S, a private security firm. The extra security is evidence of the sensitivity around the Brexit negotiations, with EU officials confiding to The Daily Telegraph their fears that Britain may use MI6 and GCHQ to spy on the European side.
The UK is part of the “Anglo-saxon” Five Eyes intelligence sharing community – also comprising the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand – which is treated with some suspicion in Europe, particularly since it emerged that the US was tapping the phone of Angela Merkel, the German chancellor.
“Everyone is paranoid that the British are spying on us, although no one knows what to do about it if they are – but everyone is aware of the risks,” a Brussels-based source said. David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, is to meet Mr Barnier in Brussels today for the fourth and final day of talks, which have been cloaked by a gentlemen’s agreement of secrecy and radio silence.
The two men will discuss the progress made on the financial settlement, citizens rights and Ireland before an expected, carefully choreographed press conference.
Fears of spying are not confined to the EU side. Mr Davis carries his Brexit documents in a briefcase fitted with a Faraday cage, which protects it from spies by blocking all wireless, cellular, GPS and Wi-fi signals.