It may be months before we are ready for trade talks, says Barnier
BRITAIN could face months of wrangling before the European Union is ready to open talks on a future trade deal, Brussels’ chief negotiator has warned.
Following a fourth round of talks in the Belgian capital with Brexit Secretary David Davis, Michel Barnier said that while they had made progress, more still needed to be done.
Downing Street had been hoping that Theresa May’s Florence speech – in which she proposed that Britain would continue to pay into EU coffers for a two-year transition period – would unblock the talks and enable them to move on to the second stage, including a free trade agreement.
But at a joint press conference, Mr Barnier said that while the speech had created a “good dynamic”, there were still differences which needed to be resolved regarding future citizens’ rights and the UK’s “divorce bill”.
“I think it is positive that Theresa May’s speech made it possible to unblock the situation to some extent and give a new dynamic to the situation,” he said.
“But we are far from being at the state – and it will take weeks or maybe even months – where we will be able to say, ‘Yes, there has been sufficient progress on the principles of this orderly withdrawal’.”
Mr Barnier said he could not even discuss Mrs May’s proposal for a period of transition until there had been sufficient progress on the issues of the UK’s “orderly withdrawal”.
On the rights of EU citizens living in the UK, he welcomed Britain’s assurance that it would adopt “EU law concepts” but said they had to be enforceable through the European Court of Justice (ECJ) – something the UK is resisting.
“We failed to agree the European Court of Justice must play an indispensable role in ensuring this consistency. This is a stumbling-block for the EU,” Mr Barnier said.
He said that there had been progress on the UK’s border with Ireland – another key issue for the EU – but added that the financial settlement commitments made by the UK as a member state must be honoured in full.
“I hope that we can clarify that point moving forward and I hope that we can get a clear undertaking on that point,” he said.
Mr Davis said that some “decisive steps” forward had been taken, and called for “pragmatism” in resolving the outstanding issues.
“We have made important progress and capitalised on the momentum created by the Prime Minister’s speech,” he said.
“We are working quickly through a number of complex issues, but there remain some points where further discussion and pragmatism will be required to reach an agreement.”