This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/sep/25/david-davis-michel-barnier-brexit-bill-transition-period-talks

The article has changed 6 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
Davis and Barnier at odds over Brexit bill and transition period Davis and Barnier at odds over Brexit bill and transition period
(35 minutes later)
The Brexit secretary, David Davis, and the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, have clashed over the UK’s exit bill and Britain’s request for a transition period after Theresa May’s Florence speech failed to unlock the negotiations stalemate. The Brexit secretary, David Davis, and the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, have clashed over the UK’s exit bill and Britain’s request for a transition period after Theresa May’s speech in Florence last week failed to unlock the stalemate in negotiations.
On the first day of the fourth round of talks on Monday, Barnier told reporters in Brussels that the prime minister’s €20bn (£17.6bn) offer during her Italian address did not mean the UK would be given a transition period or that negotiations could move on to the detail of a future trading relationship. On the first day of the fourth round of talks, Barnier said the prime minister’s €20bn (£17.6bn) offer did not mean the UK would be given a transition period or that negotiations could move on to the detail of a future trading relationship.
“It remains more necessary than ever to create the trust that we need to set up and build upon our future relationship,” he said, adding that it was up to Britain to provide “clarity” with time running out before it leaves. “It remains more necessary than ever to create the trust that we need to set up and build upon our future relationship,” he said, adding that it was up to Britain to provide clarity with time running out before it leaves.
During a joint appearance, Davis had insisted there “could be no excuses for standing in the way” of progress this week and it was “obvious” that discussions on the financial settlement needed to be had in the context of talks over the future relationship. During a joint appearance in Brussels, Davis insisted there “could be no excuses for standing in the way” of progress this week and it was “obvious” that discussions on the financial settlement needed to be had in the context of talks over the future relationship.
But Barnier, coming out of a meeting with EU ministers from the 27 other member states, suggested little had changed in the state of the discussions. Brussels continues to insist that it needs to see “sufficient progress” on citizens’ rights, the financial settlement and the Irish border before it will discuss future trade. Barnier’s opening remarks are likely to disappoint No 10 and infuriate senior Brexit supporters in the government who believe May’s Florence speech was a generous offer to the EU.
“A discussion that is going to take place because the UK is asking for it on this transitional period does not mean we will no longer need to achieve sufficient progress,” Barnier said. Boris Johnson, the foreign secretary, said during a visit to the Czech Republic that the “ball is in the [EU’s] court” after May promised to carry on paying into the EU until at least 2020 and offered to enshrine the rights of EU citizens living in the UK in the Brexit withdrawal treaty.
“We are offering a great deal on citizens, a great deal on money and an unconditional commitment to the defence of Europe. Let’s hope we can move this thing forward and get these negotiations going,” Johnson said in Prague.
He then headed to Romania and Slovakia as part of “mission to explain the Florence speech and what it means for our determination to get on with negotiations over Brexit”, while May placed an opinion article in a Czech newspaper, as the UK continued its efforts to bypass the European commission and take its arguments straight to member states.
However, EU member states have made clear that authority over the talks lies with Barnier, who insists Brussels needs to see “sufficient progress” on citizens’ rights, the financial settlement and the Irish border before it will discuss future trade.
Coming out of a meeting with EU ministers from the 27 other member states, Barnier suggested little had changed in the state of the discussions.
“A discussion that is going to take place because the UK is asking for it on this transitional period does not mean we will no longer need to achieve sufficient progress,” he said.
“We are not going to mix up discussions on debts and discussion on the past commitments. We are not going to mix up those subjects, which are part of an orderly withdrawal, on a discussion of our future relationship.”“We are not going to mix up discussions on debts and discussion on the past commitments. We are not going to mix up those subjects, which are part of an orderly withdrawal, on a discussion of our future relationship.”
The Brexit secretary said he expected this week’s round of talks to build on May’s speech, in which she made a series of pledges, including the transposing of an agreement on citizens’ rights directly into UK law and a further two years of payments into the EU budget, even after Britain has left. Davis said he still expected this week’s round of talks to build on May’s speech, saying the UK was “absolutely committed to working through the detail”.
“The UK is absolutely committed to working through the detail,” Davis said. “We are laying out concrete proposals and there are no excuses for standing in the way of progress ... It will take pragmatism from both sides to make headway and I hope we can achieve that this week.” “We are laying out concrete proposals and there are no excuses for standing in the way of progress … It will take pragmatism from both sides to make headway and I hope we can achieve that this week.”
But Barnier offered little succour to the UK’s cause and directly contracted Davis’s claims over the weekend that Britain would no longer be under EU law in 2019, should it seek a transition period. But Barnier offered little succour to the UK’s cause and directly contradicted Davis’s claims over the weekend that Britain would no longer be under EU law in 2019, should it seek a transition period.
“The EU has to decide whether to have a transitional period and whether it is in its interest,” he said. “Any transition has to respect the regulatory and financial framework of the single market. “The EU has to decide whether to have a transitional period and whether it is in its interest. Any transition has to respect the regulatory and financial framework of the single market,” he said.
“As we said, we are talking about prolonging and extending EU legislation for a certain amount of time. That would mean we would have to continue with [such] things as the budget, supervision, judicial control and controls of EU rules and regulations. So that would have to continue to apply.”“As we said, we are talking about prolonging and extending EU legislation for a certain amount of time. That would mean we would have to continue with [such] things as the budget, supervision, judicial control and controls of EU rules and regulations. So that would have to continue to apply.”
The latest round of Brexit talks come amid intensifying debate in Brussels about the EU’s post-Brexit budget. May has accepted that the UK would have to abide by existing EU rules during the transition period but there are divisions within the cabinet over whether Britain should have to submit to new ones made during the two-year timeframe.
Barnier said Davis had not previously mentioned the UK’s desire for a transition period, but the terms of such a phase, including the jurisdiction of the European court of justice, should be well known in London. Johnson has been fighting against submission to new rules and in favour of the minimum possible transition period and for the UK to make a clean break with the EU after 2021.
“If the UK is asking for a transition period, it is the UK asking for it, we are not asking for it ... Perhaps I can just remind you that these rules that go hand in hand with the single market are well known to the UK, as they helped us build these rules over the last decades,” he said. But this has created divisions with Philip Hammond, the chancellor, who is in favour of a transition preserving the status quo, avoiding a “no-deal Brexit” at all costs and staying as close as possible to the single market after 2021.
Günther Oettinger, the European commissioner for the budget, said the EU would lose €12bn-€15bn a year when Britain leaves. Speaking at a conference in Brussels, he said: “We need to save 50% and find 50% of new money to fill the gaps because of Brexit.” No 10 hoped May’s Florence speech would draw a line under her Brexit difficulties and allow her to focus on domestic policy during the Conservative party conference next week, but infighting within her cabinet and speculation over her leadership are likely to overshadow the event.
Beyond the UK’s departure, he said the EU would need another injection of cash to pay for new policies, such as greater controls on its external frontiers and EU defence projects. At Labour’s conference, Keir Starmer, the shadow Brexit secretary, accused May of “robotically marching towards an extreme Brexit, focused on her own survival not the national interest”. He said his party would consider a “new single-market relationship” with the EU.
The European commission sees Brexit as a way to simplify the EU budget, which has spiralled in complexity since Margaret Thatcher secured the British rebate in 1984. Other net payers to the EU budget, including Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden, get rebates that are tied to the British one. “When the British leave, if the British leave, the mother of all rebates will go with them,” Oettinger said. “All rebates should go.” “Whether you’re in the front seat with Theresa May, or in the backseat with Boris Johnson, there’s nothing patriotic about joy-riding our country’s economy off a cliff,” Starmer said.
His remarks underline the fact that if Britain decided to remain in the EU or apply to rejoin, it would be almost impossible to recover existing benefits, such as the rebate, which gives the UK a £4.4bn annual discount on EU membership. Johnson’s actions over the past few weeks, including writing a 4,000-word personal blueprint for leaving the EU, published in the Telegraph, has been seen as a sign he is trying to goad May into sacking him over Brexit.
Further tensions erupted over the weekend when Johnson’s allies claimed he was responsible for steering May away from a Norway-style soft Brexit in her Florence speech on Friday and for seeing off Hammond’s demands for a longer transition.
Johnson’s attempt to cast himself as the saviour of a proper Brexit has been dismissed by Davis, while Hammond said on Monday he “was entirely in accord” with May’s proposal for a transition period of about two years.
Additional reporting Jennifer Rankin in Brussels