Johnson ‘called Brexit negotiations a mess’
Foreign Secretary is said to have urged Germany to make Britain's withdrawal an economic opportunity
BORIS JOHNSON described Brexit as “a mess” during a private meeting with senior German officials, European Union sources have claimed.
Mr Johnson is understood to have been referring to the complex Brexit negotiations rather than the British decision to leave the bloc, which he campaigned for in the referendum. During unminuted talks in Berlin, the Foreign Secretary is alleged by Brussels sources to have urged the Germans to turn Brexit into an economic opportunity.
However, The Daily Telegraph understands he was rebuffed by the German government, which has repeatedly stood behind Michel Barnier and resisted any attempts to go over the EU’S chief Brexit negotiator’s head. The claims were furiously denied last night by friends of Mr Johnson, who said they were a smear and a hatchet job.
One friend said: “These old claims will be rightly dismissed as nonsense by anyone sensible. Boris knows Brexit will be a great success and is committed to taking back control of our money, laws and borders.” Mr Johnson himself was not prepared to comment about the meeting, which is under- stood to have either been during his November 2016 visit to Berlin or another visit in April last year.
It emerged yesterday that EU governments could demand the continued free movement of their workers to Britain after Brexit in return for giving UK bankers access to the single market. EU diplomats said the idea was floating informally in Brussels, ahead of the expected talks over the future UK-EU relationship and free trade agreement.
The plan came to light as David Davis called for a post-brexit system of mutual recognition of standards, which would allow market access on both sides. At a speech in Vienna, he insisted that Brexit would not create a Mad Max dystopia. If it gains traction, the idea will put some of the leaders of the EU-27 in conflict with the European Commission, which is leading the Brexit negotiations on their behalf.
At this stage, the commission is sticking to its hardline stance that financial services will lose their passport to the single market after the end of the Brexit transition period in 2021. Brussels insists freedom of movement must continue as it does now until the period ends. Any significant deal on financial services is likely to be conditional on some significant form of free movement, according to a senior EU source.
The deal would not apply to just bankers or highly skilled workers but lower paid jobs as well, the source said. EU diplomats told The Telegraph that several member states of the bloc, particularly from Eastern Europe, would
‘These old claims will be rightly dismissed as nonsense by anyone sensible.’
want freedom of movement to continue. It was a sensitive issue and Britain’s financial services sector could become hostage to that in the talks.
Were Theresa May to cave in to the EU-27, she would face criticism for sacrificing control of Britain’s borders to placate the City of London. Any EU-27 demands are expected to come in talks over the mooted free trade deal or over the treaty governing the UK’S future relationship with the EU, but sources stressed the idea was at an early stage.
“This is not the first time I’m hearing about this idea, but it is still only an idea, floating informally in Brussels and the surroundings,” said one EU diplomat. “This discussion is still ahead of us – we will get back to it once we are prepared to discuss the future relations framework.” But diplomats warned any deal would require further British concessions on Mrs May’s Brexit red lines.
“If the UK wants a bespoke deal including financial services we need different bespoke red lines. And in that scenario, of course the question ‘what’s in it for us?’ will be asked,” another diplomat said.
“And I am sure some neighbours to the east will ask for freedom of movement to be put in that basket. Others may ask for other things: I am sure the Irish and Danes will want some access for their agricultural produce.”
“In line with the EU-27 thinking, being in the single market means respecting all its four freedoms, not just one of them,” another diplomat told The Telegraph.