Brussels must give ground, demands Davis
BRUSSELS must be “more flexible” in Brexit talks, David Davis will demand this week, as he seeks to bounce the European Union into concessions during face to face talks.
The Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union is expected to tell EU negotiators they must prove the legal basis for their vast divorce bill proposal and agree to less influence for European judges.
Mr Davis will tell Michel Barnier, the European Commission’s chief negotiator, that the commission must not “drag its feet” when they meet again in Brussels. It comes after tensions between both sides triggered a briefing war, with EU figures accusing the UK of using Northern Irish peace as a Brexit “bargaining chip”.
The pair will meet tomorrow – with Mr Davis ignoring the British bank holiday – before holding more substantive talks at the end of the week. Officials will be negotiating throughout.
Talks will focus on the technical detail of how Brexit will work after a string of policy papers were published by the UK over the past fortnight.
Britain wants to talk about a future trade deal from next month, but the EU is yet to decide whether “sufficient progress” has been made on separation issues such as EU citizens’ rights
A government source said: “The UK has been working diligently to inform the negotiations in the past weeks, and has published papers making clear our position on a wide range of issues from how we protect the safe flow of personal data, to the circumstances around Ireland and Northern Ireland.
“Now, both sides must be flexible and willing to compromise when it comes to solving areas where we disagree. As the EU itself has said, the clock is ticking so
neither side should drag its feet.” An official agenda published on Friday sets out how this week’s talks will include the rights of EU citizens, Northern Ireland, and a divorce settlement.
Mr Barnier has insisted on Britain setting out how much it is willing to pay, saying that “an orderly withdrawal means accounts must be settled”. Earlier this year, a House of Lords committee concluded that the Government had no legal obligation to pay such a bill.
Tory Eurosceptics urged Mr Davis to go further and postpone any agreement on a payment until the EU agreed to open up talks on a trade deal. Jacob Rees-Mogg, MP for North East Somerset, said that a payment could help to secure a deal on trade, but added: “We shouldn’t be bamboozled by the commission’s wish to set the timetable.”
Other rows are also expected to play out. The commission is seeking guarantees that the European Court of Justice will maintain jurisdiction in Britain to guarantee the rights of EU citizens. But the UK has rejected the demand. The EU is also pushing for a hard Irish border as part of any new customs arrangement. But the Government has said it wants to avoid “physical border infrastructure”.
Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, has announced that Labour is now backing continued membership of the EU single market beyond March 2019. He added that the party would also leave open the option of the UK remaining a member of the customs union and single market on a permanent basis.