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Tony Connelly
@tconnellyRTE
, 3 tweets, 1 min read Read on Twitter
EU source says that technical talks in Brussels between Boris Johnson's chief Brexit negotiator David Frost and the European Commission have just ended and that talks will resume again on Friday
Source was reticent on content, but I understand the discussions focussed more on the future relationship and less so on the Irish border (as these were technical talks there was a degree of stopping and starting as different officials entered discussions)
My impression is that no formal "concrete" text was put forward on the backstop at today's meeting. On the future relationship London has said it wants a more straightforward FTA with the EU and wants to dump the level-playing field provisions of the Withdrawal Agreement
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Tony Connelly
@tconnellyRTE
Breaking: UK negotiators have proposed a selective approach to an all-Ireland agrifood zone, no alignment on customs or industrial goods, and no "legally operable" solutions this side of a Withdrawal Agreement, according to well-placed sources.
Officials briefed on the UK "non-papers" as well as the talks between the Brexit Secretary Steve Barclay and EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier, have described the proposal as a "backward step" and "totally insane"
According to one official, the UK proposals do not meet ANY of the three objectives of the backstop which are: avoiding a hard border, protecting the all-island economy and preserving North-South cooperation
Read 10 tweets
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Tony Connelly
@tconnellyRTE
Luxembourg govt source says the request to have the Bettel Johnson news conference inside came at the last minute - it was, said the source, impossible for logistical and security reasons to relocate everything inside because the Lux PM's office was too small to host all press
Relocating cables and "infrastructure" inside at such short notice would have been impossible, the source said.
The source also said the only way to manage it would have been to select a tiny number of journalists to go inside and this would have been unfair to the rest. The source said that 140 journalists had been accredited for the meeting.
Read 3 tweets
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Tony Connelly
@tconnellyRTE
Here's what Downing Street says about the @BorisJohnson @JunckerEU meeting:

"The Prime Minister and President Juncker had a constructive meeting this lunchtime. The Brexit Secretary and Michel Barnier were also in attendance.
“The leaders took stock of the ongoing talks between the UK’s team and Taskforce 50. The Prime Minister reconfirmed his commitment to the Good Friday/Belfast Agreement and his determination to reach a deal with the backstop removed, that UK parliamentarians could support.
"The Prime Minister also reiterated that he would not request an extension and would take the UK out of the EU on the 31st October.
Read 5 tweets

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katya adler
@BBCkatyaadler
EU politicians welcome the serious tone used by PM in Dublin today when spoke of importance of making deal with EU, avoiding no deal #Brexit BUT EU contacts tell me they await a change in actions not just rhetoric /1
The PMs main #Brexit envoy, David Frost, expected back in Brussels on Weds. So far EU says he’s been discussing reducing backstop commitments rather than proposing st that could realistically replace the backstop /2
Government floated idea of all-Ireland agricultural area but EU don’t consider this a serious proposal bc only covers 30% of cross-border trade. EU will see on Weds if PM’s negotiator brings additional ideas. If not EU diplomats say it’ll be clear PM not seriously negotiating /3
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Nick Gutteridge
@nick_gutteridge
EU sources say today's 2.5hr hour meeting between PM Johnson's Brexit negotiator David Frost and Michel Barnier's deputy Stephanie Riso yielded little. The UK turned up with a team of customs experts to 'run through' alternatives to the backstop but presented nothing new.
One EU source says: 'I really cannot say where this is going. It's hard to decipher what is going on, even after hours of talks. The UK can show up with 50 experts but we need proposals and we do not have them.' Mr Frost will return for further talks on Friday.
EU ambassadors also met today for an update from Mr Barnier. They too were told there are no new UK proposals on the backstop. A senior EU diplomat said that given the political situation in Britain and a looming election, Member States don't expect a detailed plan any time soon.
Read 3 tweets
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Peter Foster
@pmdfoster
So. Am told in PM's #Brexit meeting David Frost told MPs there IS a plan:

The alternative to the Irish backstop he said is (wait for it) "alternative arrangements"...and the hope the EU will look on them more positively if Govt wins today.

Where to start?! 1/Thread.
Frost also said there was no point in tabling these AAs now, since the EU would shoot them down.

But the threat of 'no deal' would change their position which, as @MichelBarnier staked out at the weekend in @telegraph is that AAs must deliver 'fully open' Irish border. /2
@MichelBarnier @Telegraph AAs cannot do that, particularly if the @BorisJohnson plan is have all UK leaving the CU and SM.

Essentially we're going back to maxfac? That required 80+% exemptions.

You'll hear talk about 'authorised economic operators' - but that doesn't work for small traders /3
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Pedro Nicolaci da Costa
@pdacosta
THREAD-"Make no mistake: dividing Western societies against themselves and setting them against one another is a key pillar of the Russian security strategy." prosyn.org/eHSJONX
"The question for European countries is whether they will follow the UK down the path of impotent rage and national self-destruction.
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Mark Stone
@Stone_SkyNews
It was a busy night for the👩‍🍳👨‍🍳 at Her Majesty’s ambassador’s residence in Brussels last night.

The opulent residence, on Rue Ducale, was the venue for two separate but simultaneous dinners - one we knew about. The other, a curious meeting, we didn’t...[thread] /1
The first of the two dinners was publicly billed - it was #Brexit Secretary @SteveBarclay’s first meeting with EU’s Chief Brexit negotiator @MichelBarnier.
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Read 19 tweets
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katya adler
@BBCkatyaadler
1) It’s 7.30 pm in Brussels and the political declaration on the future EU - U.K. relationship - scheduled to be pretty much finished today is not yet complete. Negotiations are ongoing
2) The PM is coming to Brussels tomorrow to discuss the text. She’s expected to push for some sense of her Chequers plan for #Brexit to be recognisable in the document
3) But now she’s not the only party doing the pushing. Spain is making demands over Gibraltar and France is fighting for fishing rights in U.K. waters after Brexit
Read 10 tweets

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