The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said, on Friday 16 October, that the European Union would continue to work to find a post-Brexit agreement with the United Kingdom and that Michel Barnier's negotiating team, “as planned, will go to London next week to intensify negotiations”.
However, this was denied in the evening by the British negotiator. David Frost told Michel Barnier on the phone that there was “no basis for new negotiations”, thus casting doubt on this round of talks.
Earlier, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had argued that the UK must now prepare for a no-deal on the future bilateral relationship, as Europeans are denying him what he is asking for: a relationship similar to the one the EU and Canada have.
Mr Johnson had judged the outcome of the European leaders' discussions the day before to be “not particularly encouraging”. They had called on London to take decisive steps to reach agreement on the future bilateral relationship, stressing that the EU is not ready for “an agreement at any price” (see EUROPE 12582/1). “There doesn't seem to have been much progress”, Mr Johnson said, claiming the Europeans have not really “negotiated seriously in recent months”.
The British leader, however, said that Mr Barnier and his team could come to London, provided they made “a fundamental change in approach”. A spokesperson for Mr Johnson noted that “the discussions (were) over” and that it would take a real change to get them back on track.
Adding to the confusion, David Frost and Michel Barnier concluded that they would talk on the phone again on Monday, according to 10 Downing Street.
The EU27 did not seem particularly troubled at the end of the European Summit. “I repeat: we want an agreement, but not at any price”, said Charles Michel, President of the European Council.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, for her part, reiterated that all the countries want to negotiate. “I believe it would be in the interest of all sides to find an agreement, however, we have to be ready for the alternative”, she added.
The French President, Emmanuel Macron, spoke at length about the case of EU fishermen who will not be “sacrificed” to obtain an agreement.
“We're not stumbling over the issue of fishing, but we're stumbling over everything”, he added. Citing a level playing field as the main problem, he said that the issue of fishing is “being used tactically by the British”.
Alongside this, “ we are going to put the discussions on energy”, Mr Macron said, because the economic value of British access to the Internal Market is between “€700 million and €2.5 billion”, while access for EU fishermen to British waters represents a market of around “€750 million”.
The French President conceded that access to British waters would not be the same after the end of the post-Brexit transition period, but argued for fair access to these waters that would not be renegotiated every year. “Nor are we going to renegotiate British access to the Internal Market every year!”, he argued, refusing to allow fishermen and traders to be treated differently.
For his part, Taoiseach Micheál Martin showed some optimism on leaving the Summit, believing that Michel Barnier's presentation of the situation shows that an agreement is possible. While there are differences between the two sides, “I believe that negotiations will continue next week and should intensify on both sides”, the Irish Prime Minister said, adding that “concessions” will have to be made.
This is also the opinion of Angela Merkel, who says that “if we want to have an agreement, both sides must be ready to move”.
See European Council conclusions: https://bit.ly/353aPsK (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic with Marion Fontana and Pascal Hansens)