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Jennifer Rankin
@JenniferMerode
, 3 tweets, 1 min read Read on Twitter
No British minister or official will be at today's EU council, in line with empty chair policy.

Council will discuss rule of law in Hungary and Poland, plus EU summit agenda (non Brexit).

Since 1 September, UK only attending meetings of “significant national interest".
Sajid Javid was at informal ecofin (finance ministers) last Friday in Helsinki.

UK will attend meetings "if and when it is in our interests" esp on sovereignty, international relations, security, or finance.
'This is the time ... we need a futile gesture'. Former British ambassadors to EU condemn UK 'empty-chair' policy
(from two weeks ago)

theguardian.com/politics/2019/…
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More from @JenniferMerode see all

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Jennifer Rankin
@JenniferMerode
Brexit latest: Michel Barnier has told EU27 ambassadors it is "difficult" to see a deal emerging in the next ten days unless the British “fundamentally amend their position”.
1.
Brexit talks are now entering the critical fortnight leading to the European council (again).

Scepticism about a breakthrough is sky high, but the EU is not going to flatly reject Boris Johnson's proposals.
2.
Barnier has been tasked by member states to find out if the UK gov has any room for manoeuvre. This is agenda point number one for talks with David Frost on Friday.

UK flexibility to be tested in coming days, says EU diplomat.
"This has to happen quickly".
3
Read 9 tweets
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Jennifer Rankin
@JenniferMerode
NEW from the European parliament's Brexit steering group.

"The BSG does not find these last minute proposals of the UK government, in their current form, represent a basis for an agreement to which the European parliament could give consent."
Highlights
*Do not address "real issues" of all Ireland economy, Good Friday Agreement and integrity of single market.
*EP open to legally operable workable solutions, but UK proposals "fall short" and are move away from joint commitments i.e. Joint Report 2017.
The BSG has three "grave concerns"

*Checks and controls near border threat to peace, but also leave hole in EU single market
*Too much left to be worked out in transition period.
*Stormont lock makes agreement "uncertain, provisional and unilateral" not the safety net EU wants.
Read 4 tweets
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Jennifer Rankin
@JenniferMerode
Is the EU discussing a time limit on the backstop? Not at 27 - the issue has not been discussed in any formal meetings.

Diplomatic musings? Perhaps.

Ireland still v much against time limit. EU sources cannot imagine 26 v 1 on this issue.
EU sources asking whether reports of time limit discussions prompted by Arlene Foster's comment that her party would look at time-limited backstop.

But it's a non-topic at the moment b/c UK gov wants to scrap backstop, not time limit it.
Three EU sources tell me that EU is not considering / has not discussed a time limit on Irish backstop.

But there are 27 countries. Cannot rule out brainstorming /musing outside EU formal processes.
Read 3 tweets

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katya adler
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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
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EU has almost given up trying to understand what’s going on in UK.
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Mujtaba Rahman
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@SimonFRCox
#Poland: Gov using Constitutional Court (Gov-controlled?) to block Supreme Court from suspending law giving Gov control of judiciary. Thoughts from EU law PoV 1/17
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Lesley Miller
@LesleyMillercyp
#Brexit 1
Cadbury moved factory 2 Poland 2011 with EU grant.
Ford Transit moved 2Turkey 2013 with EU grant.
Jaguar Land Rover recently agreed 2 build a new plant in Slovakia with EU grant, owned by Tata, same company who trashed our steel industry & emptied workers pension funds.
#Brexit 2
Peugeot closed its Ryton (was Rootes Group) plant and moved production to Slovakia with EU grant.
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Dyson gone 2 Malaysia, with EU loan. Crown Closures, Bournemouth (Was METAL BOX), gone 2Poland with EU grant,employed 1,200.
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Hornby models gone. In fact all toys & models gone from UK along with patents all with EU grants
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