Brexit Made Simple – Issue 34, SECOND ROUND OF EU-UK FUTURE RELATIONSHIP NEGOTIATIONS

What is the issue?

The second round of talks to try to agree the details of the European Union’s post-Brexit relationship with the United Kingdom ended on Friday.

The first round took place in Brussels at the beginning of March.  They were due to resume in the middle of that month and rotate on a fortnightly basis between Brussels and London.    

However, the coronavirus pandemic caused them to be halted. 

What was the format?

Last week’s talks took place by video link, as will further rounds for the foreseeable future.

Monday began with a “plenary” session, led by EU Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier and David Frost, his UK counterpart, together with senior members of their teams. No politicians were involved.

Both sides then broke up into sub-groups tasked with examining individual aspects of the future EU-UK relationship. 

Subjects they discussed included trade in goods and services, transport, fisheries, energy, UK participation in EU projects and the so-called “level playing field.”          

The talks ended on Friday with a second “plenary” followed by a one to one video call between Barnier and Frost.

Overall, around 40 “video conferences” were held over the course of the week.

Was any progress made?

Extraordinarily little if the subsequent public and private briefings are to be believed.

Speaking at a news conference on Friday afternoon, Michel Barnier emphasised that EU27 Governments and EU institutions were “naturally focusing their energy on the response to the Covid-19 crisis.”

He said: “In this context, the negotiation that has occupied us this week may appear out of touch. It has even been qualified as surreal.”

However, he added that the EU had a “duty to be realistic given the two very real deadlines that we are faced with and which have been set by law.” 

The first deadline is 30 June 2020, when the EU and UK must decide whether to extend the post-Brexit transition period by up to two years.

The second is 31 December 2020 when the UK is scheduled leave the Single Market and Customs Union - with or without an agreement with the EU.

Mr Barnier said that the UK Government had “made clear that it would refuse any extension of the transition period.”

He continued: “My recommendation is therefore that we work hard until June and think carefully about our joint response to this question of extension, taking into account the economic situation and the consequences of our decisions.”

The EU Chief Negotiator said it was vital to “make progress on all issues in parallel, adding, “the UK cannot refuse to extend the transition and, at the same time, slow down discussions on important areas.”

He expressed concerns around four specific areas on which progress had been “disappointing.”

First, the “level playing field” which he said was necessary to prevent “unfair trade distortions and unjustified competitive advantages” and allow “open and fair competition.”  

Second, he said the two sides were “very far apart” with regard to “the overall governance of our future partnership.” He explained that Brussels had proposed a “single framework” whereas the UK had insisted on “a number of separate agreements, each with their separate governance arrangements.”

Third, he spoke about problems around “future police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters.” In particular, he said the UK had “refused to provide firm guarantees – rather than vague principles – on fundamental rights and individual freedoms.” He added: “It insists on lowering current standards and deviating from agreed mechanisms of data protection. This creates serious limitations for our future security partnership.”

Finally, on fisheries, he complained that the UK had not tabled a legal text on this “essential topic.”  He warned: “The EU will not agree to any future economic partnership that does not include a balanced, sustainable and long-term solution on fisheries. That should be crystal clear to the UK.”

What was the UK response?

David Frost, the UK Chief Negotiator, did not give a press conference, but instead used Twitter to attack the EU’s approach.

He tweeted on Friday: “We support high standards. But there is no need for novel and unprecedented ‘level playing field’ rules, for example tying us to EU laws, or a role for the EU court. What the EU proposes is unlike anything agreed in other such free trade agreements and we will not agree to it here.”

He added: “We are ready to work to agree a fisheries agreement which reflects our rights under international law to control our own waters and provides for annual negotiations over access based on scientific principles. We won’t agree to continuing the Common Fisheries Policy.”

His words were followed yesterday by a marginally more upbeat assessment from Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove in a written statement to MPs. Mr Gove, who was not directly involved in any of the discussions, described them as “constructive” and said there was “some promising convergence.” 

But his statement added: “There remain some areas where we have significant differences of principle – notably fisheries, the so-called ‘level playing field’ and governance and dispute settlement. Progress in these areas will require the EU to engage with the political realities of the UK as an independent state.”

What happens next?  

Two further rounds of negotiations are planned – in the weeks beginning 11 May and 1 June – in advance of the 30 June deadline by which any extension to the Brexit transition phase must be agreed.    

In addition, the joint “Committee on the Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland” will meet tomorrow to discuss the proposed customs arrangements on the Irish border which are due to come into effect at the end of the year under the current timetable.

On this matter, Mr Barnier warned on Friday: “We need clear evidence that the UK will be able to carry out all necessary sanitary and phytosanitary controls, as well as other regulatory checks on goods entering Northern Ireland from outside the EU as of January 2021 - in eight months' time.”

Dr Jason Aldiss BEM

Managing Director, Eville & Jones

29 April 2020

You can follow me on Twitter @JasonAldiss