BRITAIN has just under a fortnight to clarify exactly how much of its Brexit divorce bill it’s willing to cough up for the EU.
The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, set the deadline yesterday, after the sixth round of talks between Brussels and London ended with seemingly little real progress.
Asked specifically if Theresa May and David Davis had two weeks to provide answers over how many of the UK’s financial responsibilities the Government is willing to commit to, Barnier told reporters: “My answer is yes.”
READ MORE: Theresa May sets exact time and date for formally committing to Brexit
Davis, who was at the press conference with Barnier, repeated the commitments made by May in her big speech in Florence last September.
There the Prime Minister said the UK would honour commitments “made during the period of our membership”.
She also promised that no other member of the EU would “need to pay more or receive less over the remainder of the current budget plan as a result of our decision to leave.”
But the EU says that’s still pretty vague.
And answers are needed before any talk of a new trade deal can start. May and Davis had hoped those conversations could start in mid-December, and there had, initially, seemed to be a willingness from Europe to do just that if sufficient progress had been made.
There’s a feeling in Brussels that might not happen.
Barnier said: “I have to present a sincere and real progress to the European Council and the European Parliament.”
If he does refuse to give the trade talks a green light it will spark fury from the hard Brexiteers on the Tory benches, who will likely demand the Prime Minister walk away from the negotiations with no deal.
Meanwhile, Davis knocked back leaked reports suggesting the solution to the problems around Northern Ireland’s border with the Republic of Ireland could be keeping the whole island in the single market and the customs union.
The suggestion was raised in a paper drafted by the Irish government and the European Commission.
Davis told reporters that there would be “no new border in the United Kingdom”.
Barnier said: “We have to ensure a common reading of the conditions, consequences and implications of Brexit on the Good Friday Agreement and the Common Travel Area.
“This should lead us to identify the technical and regulatory solutions necessary to prevent a hard border while preserving the integrity of the single market. The unique situation on the island of Ireland requires specific solutions.”
Davis said: “We respect the European Union’s desire to protect the legal order of the single market and customs union.
“But that cannot come at cost to the constitutional and economic integrity of the United Kingdom.”
Although there would need to be “specific solutions” for the unique position of Northern Ireland “this cannot amount to creating a new border inside our United Kingdom”.
Barnier refused to be drawn on speculation Brussels was concerned the Tory government could collapse.
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