Brussels ‘roadblocks’ frustrate UK
BRUSSELS has made Brexit negotiations “unnecessarily difficult” by insisting the UK signs up to state aid and fisheries rules, David Frost has warned.
The UK’S chief negotiator said “any further substantive work” was being delayed by Brussels creating roadblocks out of the two areas.
His warning came as his EU counterpart, Michel Barnier, accused the Government of “wasting valuable time”.
After the seventh round of talks ended in deadlock, a senior negotiating official for the UK insisted “it’s not us that’s slowing it down”. The source said: “The process block now is the EU’S insistence we must accept their position on state aid and fisheries before we can talk about anything else.”
The official said that EU negotiators were “still insisting that we must accept arrangements that are rather like the Commons Fisheries Policy (CFP)”.
EU negotiators have demanded a status quo deal, which would allow their fleet the same access to UK waters as if Britain was not leaving the CFP, while Britain has demanded a Norway-style deal with annual quota negotiations.
“It’s in their hands to move to a more realistic position that recognises us as an independent coastal state,” the UK source added.
The seventh round of free trade negotiations were overshadowed by rows over migration and the rights of British haulage firms to operate inside the EU single market.
Road haulage is one repeatedly being singled out by the EU’S chief Brexit negotiator where the UK is trying to obtain “single market-like benefits”.
“Why should we give access to our roads to road transport firms which would not be subject to the same rules in terms of minimum standards and safety?” Mr Barnier asked. “The need for a level playing field is not going to go away. It is a non-negotiable precondition to grant access to our market.”
There has also been little progress on the Government’s calls to carve out a new arrangement by which Britain can send unwanted migrants back to Europe from 2021.
Downing Street wants to replace the “inflexible and rigid” Dublin regulation which states asylum seekers should have their claim examined in the first EU country they enter.
Brussels diplomats have suggested the issue could be held back for future leverage in negotiations.
“Without a deal on the future relationship between the EU and the UK, the chances for an agreement on migration are rather slim,” said one senior EU diplomat.
However, a UK official said the real reason there had been no progress on the issue was because of internal conflict between the EU’S 27 nations.
The official said an agreement had not been found because there “isn’t agreement inside the EU on this”.
In an effort to break the impasse, Mr Frost presented a draft free trade agreement during a private dinner with Mr Barnier this week. But he conceded after the latest talks a deal would “not be easy to achieve”, a sentiment matched by his counterpart.
“Too often it felt as if we were going backwards more than forwards,” Mr Barnier said. “I do not understand why we are wasting valuable time. At this stage, an agreement between the UK and the EU remains unlikely.”