UK-EU clash over Brexit timetable
london — Britain and the European Union are at odds over how soon the Brexit talks can pivot towards a trade deal just a week before negotiations are set to resume.
Adopting a provocative posture, UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s government declared at the weekend that it’s “stepping up pressure” on the bloc to shift the discussions away from the terms of separation as soon as October.
The use of fighting words in the past has not budged the EU and, in a sign the UK will be disappointed, Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar told the Guardian newspaper that “the process will definitely take more time than we expected.” Setting the stage for a clash, May’s spokeswoman Alison Donnelly said “both sides need to demonstrate a dynamic and flexible approach.”
Signs of fresh discord may unnerve investors after the pound last week underperformed all of its Group of 10 counterparts. By giving out more details of where it stands and spelling out its demands, the UK wants to change the narrative that it’s been too vague and by doing so jolt the EU into talking trade sooner.
But that goal is unlikely to be achieved in the upcoming rounds of talks and “unsurprisingly, Brussels is insisting that the divorce must be settled first,” writes Mujtaba Rahman, European managing director of Eurasia Group.
With the clock ticking down to the UK’s March 2019 departure, and the two sides clashing over many key issues, Brexit Secretary David Davis seems bent on reviving a debate over whether talks should run in parallel rather than in the strict order the EU has laid out.
Such an ambition will draw short shrift from the EU. Its chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, reiterated last week that the other 27 governments won’t allow trade talks to start until “sufficient progress” has been made resolving residency rights, the UK’s exit bill and the border with Ireland.
The original hope was to reach this milestone in October — in time for a summit of EU leaders — but that is now in doubt amid criticism within the EU of sluggish progress and a lack of detail from the British.