Brexit: Positive noises from both sides in stalled trade talks
Europe editor
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The mood music from Downing Street sounded far more positive on Wednesday morning than it has been since
The Big (metaphorical) Walk Out last week."We note with interest," said a spokesman for Number 10, "that the EU's chief negotiator, speaking to the European Parliament this morning, has commented in a significant way on the issues behind the current difficulties in our talks."
What were the significant words uttered by Michel Barnier?
On Friday, Boris Johnson pronounced negotiations over unless the EU fundamentally changed its position. So has it?
Well, not really.
'Working night-and-day'
The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, (he's the person who represents all 27 EU leaders when they're not in town) was also at the European Parliament.
He carefully listed the already all too well-known three big sticking points that have bedevilled EU-UK talks. None of which have changed or disappeared over the last days.
The issues are:
- The rights of EU fishermen to fish in UK waters after Brexit. The UK wants to be sovereign over its waters. The EU's original ask was to keep the same fishing quotas it had when the UK was a member state
- Competition regulations - where both sides agree to standards or principles to avoid "unfair" competition (this is of huge importance to the EU which is poised to give the UK tariff and quota free access to its single market - something it hasn't given to any other non-EU country)
- What mechanisms should be in place in this trade and security deal so that either the EU or the UK can take action if they feel the other party has broken the terms of the agreement. The EU is insisting this mechanism has teeth and will allow "swift and effective" legal action. Trust in the UK government is in low supply in Brussels. Especially after it introduced its Internal Market Bill in September, with provisions to override parts of the legal agreement on Northern Ireland's status, signed with the EU last year
But what Michel Barnier has done in calls with the UK's chief negotiator, David Frost, and tweets and statements throughout the week, is directly acknowledge a number of key UK concerns.
The government has been very critical of the EU this autumn for not engaging in intense negotiations, even though it had promised to.
This week, Michel Barnier said the EU is willing to work "night and day", "round-the-clock" and "until the very last moment" to reach a deal.
Sovereignty 'legitimate concern'
UK negotiators expressed repeated frustration that the EU thus far has refused to start writing joint legal texts, even though the large majority of the deal (on goods, transport, social security and much more) has been agreed. Mr Barnier has now spoken of working on legal texts.
Mr Barnier also nodded in his speech to the European parliament to the issue of sovereignty.
The government has often accused the EU during these negotiations of not accepting or respecting the UK's post Brexit independence and of seeking to keep the UK tied to Brussels' regulatory apron strings.
Instead of rubbishing that concern, as EU figures have often done in the past (noting, amongst other things, that all trade agreements involve two parties signing up to common rules or principles in one form or another), on Wednesday, Mr Barnier told the European Parliament that sovereignty was "a legitimate concern,' for the UK prime minister.
Although, he added that the EU's key principle of fair competition in future trading was "fully compatible" with the idea of British sovereignty.
Fishing compromise?
Most significantly perhaps, Mr Barnier openly acknowledged to the European Parliament that compromises would have to be made by the EU too if a deal could still be reached with the UK.
Downing Street was furious last week when EU leaders concluded in writing at their summit that the UK would have to make the necessary moves to reach a deal.
In truth, it's an open secret that the EU too will have to make compromises, as the UK is surely aware. Germany's Angela Merkel has said as much.
And Michel Barnier has pushed EU leaders for ages to give in on their fishing demands, since everyone in Brussels knows, that is where they will have to concede most of all.
Cover for concessions
So you could be forgiven for thinking that what we've witnessed over the past few days is a bit of political theatre.
Cover for the government - post chest-beating- to return to the negotiating table where they know the time has now come for tough compromises to be made.
EU leaders also went out of their way to sound tough on Brexit at their summit last week. Privately, a number of EU figures now admit it was a misstep.
But EU leaders have audiences back home too. They wanted to show they were "standing up to the UK"; that leaving the EU doesn't pay and that EU interests would be defended.
Cover for them too to make concessions, if indeed we're about to see a return to trade talks.
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October 21, 2020 at 09:15PM
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Brexit: Positive noises from both sides in stalled trade talks - BBC News
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