Barnier ‘worried and disappointed’ by UK Brexit stance

The EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier is "worried and disappointed" by the UK's lack of engagement on key sticking points standing in the way of a future trade deal as time is running out for negotiations.

Addressing the Institutional of International Affairs and European Affairs (IIEA) in Dublin by video link from Brussels, Mr Barnier said the UK continues to refuse to engage on the contentious issues of state aid, fisheries policies, and ways of resolving potential future disputes, which the EU has insisted must be settled up-front.

His comments came after meeting UK counterpart, David Frost, in London on Tuesday, after which both sides continued to blame the other for the current stalemate, more than five months after talks started.

The UK has refused an extension of the current transition period, which is due to end on December 31st. Still, Mr Barnier said that he hoped to be able to report “tangible” progress after an eighth round of formal negotiations takes place next week.

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“We have no more time to lose. We must have a final agreement by the end of October, if we are to have a new partnership in place by the 1st of January 2021,” Mr Barnier said, adding the “Brexit clock is ticking” even as governments and businesses focus on the Covid-19 crisis.

Mr Barnier warned there will be a “huge difference” between the outcomes of a deal and a no-deal, which would trigger import controls, tariffs and quotas. “That’s the reason why we are working for a deal,” he said. “I still hope, even if it is very difficult because of the British positions, that a deal is possible.”

Credible guarantees

Mr Barnier highlighted that the UK has consistently refused to engage on credible guarantees for open and fair competition following the transition period, most importantly in the area of state aid, which could be used to give British businesses an unfair advantage.

“In the area of energy, the UK is asking to facilitate electricity trading without committing its producers to equivalent carbon pricing and state aid controls,” he said.

In addition, British proposals on road transport would allow its truck drivers to drive on EU roads without having to comply with the same working conditions as those in the union, Mr Barnier said. “The UK’s proposals on air transport would allow British airlines to operate inside the EU without having to respect the same labour and environmental standards,” he added.

Mr Barnier also refuted UK reports that Boris Johnson’s government had moved to compromise on fisheries.

“No new legal texts have been tabled by UK negotiators,” he said. “Where the EU has shown openness to possible solutions, the UK has shunned our offers. The UK government’s position would lock Ireland’s fishermen and women from waters they fished in long before Ireland and the UK joined the European Economic Community in 1973.”

Missing Phil Hogan

The Frenchman also used the occasion to say that he will “miss” Phil Hogan, who resigned as EU trade commissioner last week following controversy over his apparent breach of Covid-19 guidelines in Ireland last month.

Mr Barnier said he could “always count” on Mr Hogan “to relay any Irish concerns to me very directly over the last four years”.