Hopes for a trade deal are just ‘British spin’, warns EU diplomat as deadline looms
EUROPEAN officials are playing down speculation of a Brexit trade deal – with one source describing it as “British spin”.
It follows renewed speculation that the EU’s and UK’s negotiators were heading for talks that would hash out the finer details of a deal.
One Brussels diplomat said Boris Johnson’s government was “pushing a sense of positivism and momentum – but we just don’t see it”.
EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier has again said these so-called “tunnel” talks cannot happen until the UK first agrees to robust dispute-solving mechanisms. He says the two sides are not close to agreement on this.
Both sides are negotiating against the clock to get a basic trade deal delivered by the end of the month.
That’s so that it can be approved by legislators in time to meet an end-of-year deadline in the wake of the UK’s departure from the European Union.
British Prime Minister Mr Johnson wants a deal already by the time the EU leaders hold a summit next Thursday while the EU feels there is time until early November.
“I would say that the mood appears to have changed,” said Taoiseach
Micheál Martin as he hosted European Council president Charles Michel.
“But the mood is one thing. It does need substance to follow the mood,” he added, urging the negotiators meeting in London this week to speed up progress.
Mr Michel acknowledged time was running out on a potential agreement. “The coming days are crucial. This is the moment of truth,” said Mr Michel.
The EU nations have become even more wary of the UK after Mr Johnson last month proposed plans on trade with Northern Ireland that even the UK government acknowledged are in breach of the Brexit withdrawal agreement.
The UK government said the talks would go on straight through to next week’s EU summit.
“We have been perfectly clear about the need to work towards the October 15 European Council. The EU has agreed to intensified talks. Those have been taking place this week and you will see more of them next week,” said Mr Johnson’s spokesman.
If passed into law, the contested UK Internal Market Bill would undermine the EU’s previously agreed oversight of trade to and from Northern Ireland.
There is anger that the UK plans to breach portions of the withdrawal treaty that were put in place to maintain an open border on the island of Ireland.
Mr Michel’s visit to Dublin underscored that point.
“What’s at stake is what we cherish most: the Good Friday Agreement, the peace and stability of the island of Ireland and the integrity of the single market. This is not only an Irish issue. This is a European one,” said Mr Michel.