09 October 2019

The Guardian: Brexit talks in Brussels between EU and UK come to a halt

Sources on both sides confirmed no meetings were scheduled between the negotiating teams. There are 22 days remaining before the UK is due to leave the EU.

Discussions between EU and UK officials had been held almost daily since the prime minister and the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, met for lunch in Luxembourg in mid-September.

The Brexit secretary, Stephen Barclay, had earlier this week called for the talks to intensify to try to secure a deal for leaders to sign off at an EU summit on 17 October.

But after a tumultuous Tuesday, during which unnamed Downing Street sources accused the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, of wielding a veto on the UK leaving the customs union, the discussions appeared to have hit a wall. [...]

Barnier told reporters: “The EU will remain calm, vigilant, respectful and constructive. I think the deal is possible and very difficult, but possible.”

Much of the focus is now on Johnson’s expected meeting with the Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, on Thursday, with Barclay expected to meet Barnier for a working lunch in Brussels on the same day.

Both sides are keen to avoid blame for what Johnson has warned would be a “failure of statecraft” if they failed to reach an agreement.

On Tuesday, Varadkar told the Irish broadcaster RTÉ he believed it would be “very difficult to secure an agreement by next week”.

The taoiseach added: “Essentially, what the United Kingdom has done is repudiate the deal that we negotiated in good faith with prime minister [Theresa] May’s government over two years, and have sort of put half of that now back on the table and are saying, ‘That’s a concession’. And, of course, it isn’t really.” [...]

Full article on The Guardian

Related article on ITV News: Angela Merkel comprehensively rejects Boris Johnson's Brexit offer, writes Robert Peston

© The Guardian