EU anger over stalled Brexit talks

EUROPEAN Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker joined the bloc’s chief negotiator in lashing out at Britain for failing to prepare for Brexit talks, as the third round of negotiations looked set to produce little progress.

“I’ve read all the position papers produced by Her Majesty’s government and none is satisfactory,” Juncker said on Tuesday at a conference in Brussels, as talks between the UK and the EU resumed.

“There is still an enormous amount of issues that remain to be settled.”

The stage had already been set for an intense round of negotiations after chief negotiator Michel Barnier and Brexit Secretary David Davis met on Monday and candidly aired their frustration at each other’s approaches.

Barnier said time was running out, as the UK continued in its bid to change the order of topics discussed. The UK has published 11 documents outlining its positions in areas that need to be settled as part of its withdrawal from the EU, ranging from data protection to nuclear safety and customs arrangements.

While the UK hoped the papers would persuade the EU to deal with their future relationship at the same time as the most pressing separation issues, European diplomats criticised the documents for being unrealistic and failing to nail down what the UK was asking for. It hasn’t produced a document on the financial settlement – one of the main areas the EU wants to discuss first.

“We must start negotiating seriously,” Barnier said. “The sooner we remove the ambiguity the sooner we will be able to be in a position to discuss the future relationship and a transitional period.”

While the EU is sticking to the plan of negotiating the divorce before moving on to the future relationship, the UK camp says negotiations could progress if Barnier were more flexible.

The UK is reluctant to agree to an exit bill without having something to show voters.

“You can’t resolve these issues technically or legally, it requires a political push and that will have to happen at the October European Council,” Mujtaba Rahman, managing director for Eurasia Group in London, said.

“Theresa May can’t write a cheque for £35 billion, or however much it is going to be, without having something in return,” Rahman added.