European Union negotiator Michel Barnier on Wednesday expressed his “concerns” after recent British statements on the future relationship between the EU and the United Kingdom, fearing a “distancing” from the commitments made by London.
In an intervention in the European Parliament in front of students from ESCP (Ecole supérieure de commerce de Paris), his alma mater, he said he had “some concern” before the start of negotiations, scheduled for Monday.
“I listen to British speeches, those of the Prime Minister and other ministers, I read texts like what is called the ministerial declaration of the United Kingdom, and I see a distancing in these texts and these speeches compared to the commitments made, “he said.
The Frenchman considers observing a gap both from the point of view of the withdrawal agreement, which sets out the conditions of the divorce, in particular on “the correct application of this agreement for Ireland”, but also towards the political declaration which accompanies the treaty. In this non-binding text, “the Prime Minister himself undertook to avoid with us any form of ‘unfair competition’ (unfair competition, editor’s note), of distortion”, recalled Michel Barnier.
The EU prepared “all options”
“Our concern is that this text of the political declaration is respected and translated in accordance with its spirit and its letter into a legal text,” he insisted. He said the EU was “determined to find a good deal”.
However, the 27 are “also, lucidly, led to be prepared for all the options, including the one where we would not have agreed at the end of the year” and where all the changes brought about by Brexit , like the introduction of border controls, “would be reinforced by other frictions, taxes and quotas on all materials,” warned Michel Barnier.
On Tuesday, the 27 countries of the Union approved Michel Barnier’s negotiating mandate. London did the same for its negotiator, David Frost. The two teams are due to launch the first round of negotiations on Monday for four days, which will be followed in March by a second in London and so on for several months. The transition period, established by the withdrawal treaty and intended to help a cordial divorce, ends at the end of December, and the Prime Minister Boris Johnson insists that his country will not ask for an extension if the negotiations on the future relation, in particularly a trade agreement, were not yet finalized.
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