Brexit talks in deadlock af ter ‘tetchy’ third round
THE UK and Brussels remained in deadlock on trade negotiations last night after London’s chief negotiator admitted that ‘very little progress’ had been made in the third round of talks.
David Frost said a free trade agreement was being held up by the EU’s desire to ‘bind’ the UK to its laws and seek unfair access to fishing waters.
EU negotiator Michel Barnier hit back, suggesting Britain’s demands were ‘not realistic’ as he warned of a looming stalemate.
A senior UK official close to the negotiations said the talks had been ‘a little bit tetchy at times’ and ‘disruptive’, but had ‘gone well in terms of process’. Following the conclusion of the third negotiating round, Mr Frost said the major obstacle was the EU’s insistence on including a set of ‘novel and unbalanced proposals’ tying Britain to EU standards.
‘I regret that we made very little progress towards agreement on the most significant outstanding issues between us,’ he said.
‘It is very clear that a standard comprehensive free trade agreement, with other key agreements on issues like law enforcement, civil nuclear, and aviation alongside, all in line with the political declaration, could be agreed without major difficulties in the time available.
‘The major obstacle to this is the EU’s insistence on including a set of novel and unbalanced proposals on the so-called “level playing field” which would bind this country to EU law or standards, or determine our domestic legal regimes, in a way that is unprecedented in free trade agreements and not envisaged in the political declaration.
‘As soon as the EU recognises that we will not conclude an agreement on that basis, we will be able to make progress.’
Mr Frost said fishing arrangements were another sticking point.
He added: ‘The EU continues to insist on fisheries arrangements and access to UK fishing waters in a way that is incompatible with our future status as an independent coastal state.’
Mr Frost said: ‘We very much need a change in EU approach for the next round beginning on June 1.’
Speaking at a press conference in Brussels, Mr Barnier said: ‘You cannot have the best of both worlds. Our future partnership will be shaped by the choices we make this year together. The EU will not act in haste on such an important matter.
‘The next round must bring new dynamism in order to avoid a stalemate between us. Let us make a success of round four in the first week of June by making the tangible progress we need.’
The senior UK official close to the negotiations said the problem ‘continues to be that the EU thinks there is a kind of halfway house between what we’re willing to see on the so-called level playing field and what they’re willing to see’.
‘As we’ve tried to make clear from the start, there isn’t a halfway house – we can’t split the difference between areas where we control our own laws and waters, and those that we don’t.’
The official said both sides remained optimistic a deal could be struck, and it was ‘easy to see’ how a ‘pretty standard and major free trade agreement’ could be agreed.
‘We need a change in EU approach’