Politics

Brexit countdown: Barnier heads for crunch EU talks as officials declare 'progress made'


The Cabinet minister is to meet the EU diplomat in Brussels to discuss details of Boris Johnson’s plan for an alternative to the controversial “backstop” measure for the Irish border. Downing Street officials admitted there were still “significant obstacles” in the way of a deal while insisting progress had been made in recent weeks. UK Government officials handed a fourth informal policy paper to the EU negotiating team earlier this week.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said there remained a “long way to go” before a deal could be reached but insisted “progress has been made”.

In one sign of progress, EU negotiators are understood to have agreed to proposals for the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont to have a veto over any proposed regulatory agreements designed to avoid customs checks at the border with the Irish Republic.

In the Commons earlier this week, Mr Johnson insisted the EU had budged over a series of issues in the negotiations in recent weeks.

He said the bloc had accepted Theresa May’s Withdrawal Agreement could be reopened.

And Downing Street maintained that the Benn Act, the legislation introduced by MPs aimed at taking a no-deal Brexit on October 31 off the table, was making the negotiations more difficult.

“There is no doubt that it has hindered our negotiating position but the Prime Minister and colleagues, through hard work, have continued to try to make progress in the face of that piece of legislation,” the spokesman said.

“But no one should be under any illusion, there is a very long way to go.”

European Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva confirmed that a fourth document, called a non-paper in official jargon, had been shared with Brussels by the UK.

“We have now received documents from the UK, the fourth one yesterday,” she said.

“The technical discussions are taking place this week with the UK on some aspects of customs and sanitary and phyto-sanitary rules, and the next technical meeting is scheduled for tomorrow.

“There are documents, there are discussions on the basis of the documents, we have negotiation teams but I will not characterise these discussions and exchanges further at this stage as the next step is the European Council.”

Officials see a European Council summit scheduled for October 17 to be a crunch moment for the prospects of a deal.

The European Parliament’s Brexit co-ordinator Guy Verhofstadt, who met Mr Barnier on Thursday, said the UK’s proposals to resolve the Northern Ireland issues “fall short”.

He said the plan must work to “preserve consumer safety, to protect our businesses and preserve the peace”.

“So far UK proposals fall short on all three fronts.” 



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