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| Day two of Brexit talks – and the UK looks as underprepared as ever | Day two of Brexit talks – and the UK looks as underprepared as ever |
| (6 months later) | |
| David Davis’s grin masked grim reality of ‘taking back control’ – the complexity of even basic issues. This is just the start | |
| Jennifer Rankin in Brussels | |
| Mon 17 Jul 2017 18.02 BST | |
| Last modified on Mon 27 Nov 2017 20.01 GMT | |
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| On day two of Brexit talks, the British lost the public relations battle early. The official photo shows the EU side on the left: two women and one man, each with a hefty sheaf of papers, a pen poised. On the right, the all-male British trio, almost empty handed. Only Olly Robbins, the permanent secretary to the Department for Exiting the European Union, had a slim notebook (shut) and pen. | On day two of Brexit talks, the British lost the public relations battle early. The official photo shows the EU side on the left: two women and one man, each with a hefty sheaf of papers, a pen poised. On the right, the all-male British trio, almost empty handed. Only Olly Robbins, the permanent secretary to the Department for Exiting the European Union, had a slim notebook (shut) and pen. |
| David Davis leaned on an empty glass table, nothing but his reflection before him. There was not even a briefing paper with the words “have cake and eat it” scrawled into the margins – much less the silver spy-proof briefcase Davis reportedly uses to guard the nation’s top-secret Brexit plans. | David Davis leaned on an empty glass table, nothing but his reflection before him. There was not even a briefing paper with the words “have cake and eat it” scrawled into the margins – much less the silver spy-proof briefcase Davis reportedly uses to guard the nation’s top-secret Brexit plans. |
| Moments earlier the former SAS reservist had been ushered into Barnier’s office, past the 28 flags of the EU member states. Usually there are only 27 flags, but on Brexit days, the Union Jack is taken out of the cupboard for a few hours. | Moments earlier the former SAS reservist had been ushered into Barnier’s office, past the 28 flags of the EU member states. Usually there are only 27 flags, but on Brexit days, the Union Jack is taken out of the cupboard for a few hours. |
| Grinning broadly, Davis declared it was good to be back in Brussels. Never mind that Brexit was supposed to be sewn up with Angela Merkel. “The first calling point of the UK’s negotiator immediately after Brexit will not be Brussels, it will be Berlin to strike a deal,” Davis tweeted a month before the June 2016 referendum. | Grinning broadly, Davis declared it was good to be back in Brussels. Never mind that Brexit was supposed to be sewn up with Angela Merkel. “The first calling point of the UK’s negotiator immediately after Brexit will not be Brussels, it will be Berlin to strike a deal,” Davis tweeted a month before the June 2016 referendum. |
| But that – along with “the row of the summer” on the EU’s Brexit timetable – was forgotten as the Brexit secretary urged everyone to get on with it. “Now it is time to get down to work and make this a successful negotiation,” he said – a mere 110 days after the government started the EU countdown. | But that – along with “the row of the summer” on the EU’s Brexit timetable – was forgotten as the Brexit secretary urged everyone to get on with it. “Now it is time to get down to work and make this a successful negotiation,” he said – a mere 110 days after the government started the EU countdown. |
| His opposite number, the EU negotiator Michel Barnier, was gracious enough to avoid mentioning that ticking clock. But this was no time for messing around. “We will now delve into the heart of the matter. We need to examine and compare our respective positions in order to make good progress,” the Frenchman said. David Davis and he would be in constant contact with “a rendezvous” to take stock on Thursday. | His opposite number, the EU negotiator Michel Barnier, was gracious enough to avoid mentioning that ticking clock. But this was no time for messing around. “We will now delve into the heart of the matter. We need to examine and compare our respective positions in order to make good progress,” the Frenchman said. David Davis and he would be in constant contact with “a rendezvous” to take stock on Thursday. |
| Perhaps Davis looked so pleased because there was no chance of bumping into Boris Johnson, safely out of the way at an EU foreign ministers’ meeting across the road – separated by a four-lane road and security barriers. Not like at the Spectator garden party, where one eyewitness described the two cabinet ministers goading each other “like a pair of rutting stags locking antlers”. | Perhaps Davis looked so pleased because there was no chance of bumping into Boris Johnson, safely out of the way at an EU foreign ministers’ meeting across the road – separated by a four-lane road and security barriers. Not like at the Spectator garden party, where one eyewitness described the two cabinet ministers goading each other “like a pair of rutting stags locking antlers”. |
| Even better for Davis, the foreign secretary was on message. Are you going to be doing any whistling? asked journalists. The foreign secretary ignored the question. Cabinet splits? Must be time to recap the UK’s “very fair and serious offer” to secure the rights of 3.5 million citizens. | Even better for Davis, the foreign secretary was on message. Are you going to be doing any whistling? asked journalists. The foreign secretary ignored the question. Cabinet splits? Must be time to recap the UK’s “very fair and serious offer” to secure the rights of 3.5 million citizens. |
| Back across the road, Davis and Barnier were discussing the next three and a half days of Brexit talks. After last month’s getting-to-know-you-day, Brexit has moved into a more business-like phase: there were no gifts or four-course lunches in the Berlaymont’s silver service dining room. | Back across the road, Davis and Barnier were discussing the next three and a half days of Brexit talks. After last month’s getting-to-know-you-day, Brexit has moved into a more business-like phase: there were no gifts or four-course lunches in the Berlaymont’s silver service dining room. |
| There was no lunch for Davis at all. He left the commission around noon, as the technical work began. Both sides split into teams to discuss three aspects of the divorce treaty: citizens’ rights, money and a sprawling range of topics known as “other separation issues”. This last set of issues covers any unfinished business on Brexit day, from pending British cases at the European court of justice to product rules for goods in warehouses. | There was no lunch for Davis at all. He left the commission around noon, as the technical work began. Both sides split into teams to discuss three aspects of the divorce treaty: citizens’ rights, money and a sprawling range of topics known as “other separation issues”. This last set of issues covers any unfinished business on Brexit day, from pending British cases at the European court of justice to product rules for goods in warehouses. |
| This is the mind-numbing reality of “taking back control”: tuition fees for Latvian students, European civil service pensions, British liability for building motorways in Poland, shipment rules for a crate of cheddar cheese on Brexit day. All will have to be resolved before the UK can even begin to talk about trade, police co-operation, foreign policy, security, data-protection ... This is only the beginning. | This is the mind-numbing reality of “taking back control”: tuition fees for Latvian students, European civil service pensions, British liability for building motorways in Poland, shipment rules for a crate of cheddar cheese on Brexit day. All will have to be resolved before the UK can even begin to talk about trade, police co-operation, foreign policy, security, data-protection ... This is only the beginning. |
| No wonder British diplomats warned before the referendum that parliament would be snarled up for a decade with the great Brexit unscrambling. In reality, Davis and his team have plenty of words on paper. Nothing has dislodged the impression that the UK is woefully underprepared for the enormous task ahead. | No wonder British diplomats warned before the referendum that parliament would be snarled up for a decade with the great Brexit unscrambling. In reality, Davis and his team have plenty of words on paper. Nothing has dislodged the impression that the UK is woefully underprepared for the enormous task ahead. |
| Brexit | |
| David Davis | |
| Michel Barnier | |
| Article 50 | |
| European Union | |
| Europe | |
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