Brexit negotiators have all but abandoned an October deadline to conclude the first phase of talks, unless the UK changes its position on a financial settlement.
The British side has refused to come forward with a position paper on money, spending the second round of Brexit talks last week - the most substantive round following a one-day meeting in June - “interrogating” the EU on its text (see EUROPE 11834). The approach frustrated the EU’s lead Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, who warned European ambassadors on 26 July that he would not allow the UK to adopt the same tactics during a further round of talks in August.
But few expect the UK to change its attitude before the Conservative party conference in the first week of October, the party’s annual think-in, which leaves little time for EU leaders later in that month to judge whether “sufficient progress” has been made on the three priority issues - citizens’ rights, the financial settlement and the Republic of Ireland/Northern Ireland border. That decision is needed before talks can move on to a second phase on trade, which the UK - and several EU countries, including the Netherlands, Denmark, Ireland and other northern trading nations - are anxious to see happen.
British negotiators say they won’t sign up to any figures, or even a hard and fast methodology, until they know the broad outline of the trade deal they are going to get post-Brexit, and say a position paper on the issue is not necessary.
One EU official with knowledge of the talks said the UK was playing a “dangerous game”. “They’re in a Mini Cooper playing chicken with a Mercedes,” the official quipped. “We are not in a hurry,” said another official, who was at the EU ambassadors’ meeting, adding that the October deadline was “not carved in stone”. EU support for Mr Barnier’s approach to the talks was unanimous at the meeting, officials said, with several ambassadors encouraging him to “keep calm and carry on”.
The EU is also playing hardball with the UK on citizens’ rights, refusing to budge on the British red line that the European Court of Justice should not have jurisdiction in the country post-Brexit (see EUROPE 11816). But EU officials were more sanguine about making progress on the subject in the autumn, particularly as there are areas - such as the right to permanent residency, including social benefits, after five years - where the EU and UK sides agree. The UK has also softened its rhetoric on migration, with home office minister Amber Rudd saying this week that she wants an “immigration system that works for all”.
A position paper from the EU on Ireland for the autumn
And the EU is preparing a position paper on Ireland for the autumn, the last major paper expected from the European side following nine texts on issues ranging from Euratom and pending court cases to goods placed on the market on Brexit day (see EUROPE 11819). The talks on Irish issues are being kept “political”, officials say, with solutions for the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland not expected to feature in the paper.
Meanwhile, the deadline for submitting applications to host the European Medicines Agency and European Banking Authority post-Brexit is at midnight on Monday, 31 July (see other news). More than 20 member states are expected to submit a bid for the medicines agency, which employs over 900 staff and is currently based in London.
The next round of UK exit talks is due to take place the week of 28 August in Brussels, with EU officials standing ready to meet during the summer if needed. (Sarah Collins)