UK reneging on promises, says chief EU negotiator
The UK appears to be reneging on promises over its divorce payment to the EU, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, said.
“I’ve been very disappointed by the UK position as expressed last week, because it seems to be backtracking on the original commitment of the UK to honour its international commitments including the commitments post-Brexit,” Barnier said on Thursday. “There is a moral dilemma here; you can’t have 27 [countries] paying for what was decided by 28.”
Barnier’s comments underscore how vast the divide is over what the UK should pay when it leaves the bloc in March 2019. Britain believes it is only legally obliged to pay its annual membership fee until departure; the EU’s position is that it’s bound by its past obligations that stretch beyond its departure date.
The issue needs to be resolved before EU leaders at a summit in six weeks can deem negotiations to have made “sufficient progress” to open discussions on future trade links.
TRANSITION PERIOD
UK Brexit Secretary David Davis gave a description of what a transition period to soften the blow for companies and investors after Brexit would look like, if the EU approved it, telling MPs in London that he envisaged an arrangement “as close as possible to the current circumstance”.