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Michel Barnier will be told on Wednesday that EU capitals want to get a full picture of any deal with the UK before it is agreed, amid concerns that the bloc’s top Brexit negotiator may give up too much ground on the last trading days.
Member states have asked Barnier, who is in London, to address his representatives in Brussels in a morning video conference to provide a full account of the latest developments.
A senior EU diplomat said they trusted Barnier as a negotiator, but added there was some nervousness following Friday’s briefing in which he had told ambassadors of his “flexibility” on aspects of customs and border controls. .
Barnier cautioned that British negotiators led by David Frost had not yet reciprocated by agreeing on a robust dispute resolution system, which he admitted could raise “concerns about selective selection.
A senior EU diplomat said: “[Barnier] You will be asked to get the message across to the commission that member states would like to have prior scrutiny of a potential deal before closing it. Being in the dark makes people nervous. “
Negotiations remain stagnant on the level of access to be granted to European fishing fleets in UK waters and the means by which either party can counterattack if the other seeks to gain a competitive advantage by diverging on environmental, labor or social issues. . Rules.
On Tuesday, French President Emmanuel Macron and Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo spoke at a joint press conference about their determination to ensure that the interests of the EU are not harmed in the final moments of the negotiation.
Macron said: “We are particularly attentive to a level playing field, today and in the future, and the question of fisheries. The preservation of the activities of our fishermen in British waters is an essential condition, as are the fair rules of the market in the future. On the subject of Brexit, our position has been constant: an agreement must allow a just future relationship and France will not accept an agreement that does not respect our interests in the future. “
De Croo used a football analogy to emphasize his concern that Britain would score a “decisive goal … in the last minute”.
Some diplomats have said they are concerned that European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen may be willing to offer too many concessions to enhance her own legacy by sealing a last-minute deal.
Von der Leyen said during remarks in a debate with regional and national parliamentarians that she was determined to ensure a system that goes beyond a conventional free trade “no regression” clause on environmental or social standards.
“Right now, we are discussing how we replicate the control of equal conditions,” he said, “so that we can be clear that there is no regression in what we have achieved and there is justice over time, so that access can be without quotas or tariffs and all companies are governed by the same rules in the single market ”.
The EU wants to ensure regulatory alignment through a dispute mechanism that would allow Brussels to affect trade with unilateral tariffs where the UK has deviated from the single market rule book.
“We want an agreement, but not at any price. We are well prepared for both scenarios, so we will see how things go in the next few days, “said Von der Leyen.
Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office minister in charge of preparations for the no-deal, said the lawsuit reveals that the EU was not prepared to fully accept the UK leaving. “The EU still wants us to be tied to its way of doing things,” he said. “The EU is currently reserving the right, if there is any kind of dispute, not to break everything, but to impose some really tough and penal restrictions on us, and we don’t think that’s fair.
