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The government will go ahead with Brexit legislation that could violate international law, despite fears that it could upset the EU at a critical time for trade talks.
Foreign Minister James Cleverly told Sky News that the government’s internal market bill would return to the House of Commons today.
Time is running out to secure a post-Brexit trade deal, and Thursday’s EU leaders’ summit is seen as a deadline for reaching a deal.
This weekend saw more talks about a possible deal, following Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Saturday.
Johnson and von der Leyen are due to speak again Monday night to assess whether a trade deal can still be reached.
However, the EU’s top negotiator, Michel Barnier, was said to have told the bloc’s national ambassadors on Monday morning that he was “quite depressed” about the prospects for a deal.
An EU diplomat said: “Negotiations between the EU and the UK have come to an end, time is fast running out.”
“Despite intense negotiations until last night, the gaps in level playing field, governance and fisheries have yet to be bridged.
“The outcome is still uncertain, it can still go both ways. The EU is ready to go the extra mile to reach a fair, sustainable and balanced deal for the citizens of the EU and the UK.”
“It is up to the UK to choose between such a positive result or a no-deal result.”
Meanwhile, an EU source told Sky News that they “did not expect anything substantial yet”, although they predicted “some more drama” and said that trade talks “were moving in the right direction on fisheries.”
On Sunday night, a UK government source said there was “no progress” in fisheries, which has been one of the most difficult problems to resolve during trade negotiations.
The Internal Market Bill, which has been condemned by critics both in Westminster and abroad, seeks to allow ministers to overturn the Withdrawal Agreement, the UK’s divorce deal agreed with the EU last year.
The government has admitted that the legislation could cause the UK to violate international law, but argues that it is necessary to protect the integrity of the UK and the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland.
However, in a sign that progress could still be made on Irish border matters, it was announced that Cabinet Minister Michael Gove would meet with European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic in Brussels on Monday.
A UK government spokesman said the couple would meet to “discuss matters relating to their work as co-chairs of the Joint Withdrawal Agreement Committee”.
“The Joint Withdrawal Agreement Committee oversees the implementation, application and interpretation of the Withdrawal Agreement in the UK and the EU, including the Northern Ireland Protocol,” they added.
“The work of the Joint Committee is independent of the ongoing negotiations of the free trade agreement.”
Sefcovic posted on Twitter that the two parties would be “working hard” to ensure that post-Brexit deals for the Irish border were “fully operational” on January 1, after the end of the Brexit transition period.
It has been speculated that a successful meeting between Gove and Sefcovic, as well as the conclusion of a trade deal between the UK and the EU after Brexit, could cause the UK government to abandon the most contentious parts of the market bill. inside.
Last month, the House of Lords removed the most controversial parts of the internal market bill from the proposed legislation.
But Mr. Cleverly told Kay Burley that those clauses would be reintroduced into the bill when he returns to the Commons today.
“It contains clauses that we may have to trust and if we need to trust them they better be there,” he said.
“It’s an insurance policy, like all insurance policies that you would rather not have to use. But you’d give yourself a kick if you need it and it’s gone.”
When asked if it was worth risking the ire of the EU by reintroducing the controversial legislation, Mr Cleverly replied: “Not having that in place would weaken our position and actually give the EU negotiators an advantage.”
“And, in a negotiation like this, it is really key that both sides negotiate hard – I’m sure the EU negotiators are negotiating hard, but so are David Frost and our negotiating team.
“We do it in a spirit of positivity, but we want to get a deal that works for the UK, a deal that works for the UK.”
