On Tuesday 21 August, the European Union's negotiator-in-chief on Brexit, Michel Barnier, and the competent British minister, Dominic Raab, expressed their hopes of stepping up negotiations to overcome the ongoing disagreements and reach an agreement on the orderly withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU.
“We are entering the final stage of the negotiations and will negotiate continuously from today”, Barnier said. In order to be ratified by both sides by 29 March 2019, the scheduled date of Brexit, a political agreement must be reached in “October, possibly early November, but not much later than that”, he said.
Raab, who firmly believes that pragmatism and energy are the two main ingredients for an ambitious withdrawal agreement, said that he would be back in Brussels next week. He went on to say that an agreement is still possible before the European Council of October.
Neither of the negotiators reported any tangible progress in the three areas of work that are still holding up an agreement on British withdrawal: - the creation of a “legally operational backstop” to avoid a return to a hard border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland; - other matters related to the withdrawal, such as the protection of geographical indications; - the future political declaration on post-Brexit bilateral relations.
Concerning the backstop, Barnier sought to appease the concerns raised. “We must de-dramatise the issue and spell out which controls are needed, how and where they will take place”, he said.
Echoing the political debate in the UK on the possible benefits of the no-deal Brexit, the EU negotiator reiterated that the withdrawal of the UK would have an economic, human and social cost. “The most expensive form of Brexit will be 'no deal'. We are working on all options, but first and foremost for an orderly withdrawal”, he added.
The United Kingdom, which has set out its vision of post-Brexit cooperation with the EU in the financial sector (see article), will publish several documents on Thursday to step up preparations for economic operators in the event of a no-deal Brexit. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)