Brexit negotiations could be in deadlock for months unless the UK agrees to honour all its financial commitments, the EU’s chief negotiator suggested at the end of the latest round of talks.
Michel Barnier said Theresa May had created a “new dynamic” with her speech in Florence last week, but it became clear from comments in Brussels and elsewhere that standout issues remained.
Barnier made the comments yesterday together with the Brexit secretary, David Davis, after the latest talks. He said Davis was, in his own words, not yet ready to specify what past financial commitments would be met by the UK. The British government has so far only offered to ensure that no country loses out in the two years after the UK leaves in 2019, at an estimated cost to the Treasury of €20bn (£17.5bn).
“The UK explained also that it was not in a position yet to identify its commitments taken during membership,” Barnier said. “For the EU, the only way to reach sufficient progress is that all commitments taken at [by] 28 [member states] are honoured at [by] 28.”
Davis said “decisive steps forward” had been made, in particular on citizens’ rights. “This round was a vital one,” he said, as he called for pragmatism. In a move that could inflame Tory Eurosceptics days before the Tory party conference, Davis acknowledged that European law would take “direct effect” when it came to protecting citizens’ rights. This means 3.5 million EU citizens living in the UK can appeal to British courts using European law enshrined in the withdrawal treaty, which will override British law.
The development marks a stark U-turn on the government’s previous claim that such measures were “inappropriate and unnecessary”.
But the two sides still disagree on the role of the European court of justice in securing citizens’ rights, and “this is a stumbling block for the EU”, as Davis put it. A big gap remained on family reunification, he added.
EU leaders insist talks must make sufficient progress on Britain’s financial settlement, the rights of citizens and the status of the Irish border before they can be broadened to encompass future relations between Britain and the bloc. The UK had hoped to get the go-ahead on talks about future relations next month.
“I think it’s positive that Theresa May’s speech made it possible to unblock the situation, to some extent, and give a new dynamic to the situation,” Barnier said. “But we are far from being at a stage – it will take weeks, or maybe even months – where we will be able to say ‘Yes, OK, there has been sufficient progress on the principles of this orderly withdrawal’.”
Barnier and Davis were speaking after it emerged that the UK’s potential liability for EU debts had increased by about €3bn. The EU’s latest annual accounts released yesterday showed a €239bn liability, up from €220bn. On top of this is a €67.2bn liability for staff pensions, up from €63.8bn in 2015. Together, both could add at least €3bn to the UK Brexit bill.
Davis declined to reveal what May meant in Florence when she said the UK would “honour [the] commitments we made during the period of our membership”. “We are not doing the negotiation standing here,” he said.
The Netherlands’ foreign minister, Bert Koenders, accused the UK of “daydreaming”. “I don’t think I’m the only one worried about the lack of realism we see on the British side,” he said. “The clock is ticking. Big Ben may be still for renovation, but in Europe time ticks on.”
The government will continue a charm offensive of member states. May will meet Angela Merkel in Tallinn, Estonia, today on the margins of an EU leaders’ summit, where she is expected to say Britain is unconditionally committed to the defence and security of Europe.
However, last night the European parliament’s chief Brexit coordinator, Guy Verhofstadt, said that Britain’s exit from the EU was a “waste of time and energy” and insisted that quitting the bloc was a “very negative project”. The former prime minister of Belgium said the move had fuelled a resurgence in the popularity of the union on the continent.
In a potentially significant move for a million British citizens in Europe, the government called on the EU to guarantee onward movement rights. This means, for example, a Briton living in Germany could move to any other EU country after Brexit. In return, the 3.5 million EU nationals in the UK would have an indefinite right of return, if they ever went abroad. The EU has yet to respond to the British offer.
Meanwhile, the European parliament is preparing to formally censure the government for discriminating against EU nationals since the Brexit vote.
No comments:
Post a Comment