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Boris Johnson talked about his Brussels school years when he met EU leaders today. He also told them the UK had always been half in/half out.

The meeting took around 25 minutes.
theguardian.com/politics/2019/…
His main message was that he could get the votes in parliament.
Exuded confidence and ready to answer EU27 questions about the Benn Act

But EU leaders are not convinced. They just don't know, but didn't discuss extension in detail.
Hat tip @GuardianHeather we know that one of the last hurdles to the EU-UK deal was.... a VAT derogation for sanitary products.

David Cameron fought a similar battle in 2016, bringing the issue to European council.
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More from @JenniferMerode see all

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Jennifer Rankin
@JenniferMerode
Michel Barnier does not share Boris Johnson's certainty that there will be no extension of the transition. He says summer 2020 will be "a moment of truth" to see whether extension needed.

1 July 2020 is deadline for requesting one-off extension.
Barnier also warns that cliff edge has not gone away. "As long as we have not completed both negotiations with the UK the risk of a cliff edge remains and we should all remain vigilant."
The EU-UK negotiation on future trade will be "difficult and demanding" says Barnier because time is "extremely short", assuming Brexit on 31 Jan. And UK may seek to diverge from EU standards (aka level playing field).
Read 3 tweets
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Jennifer Rankin
@JenniferMerode
Michel Barnier: The EU wants to turn the page on the "negative" Brexit divorce to the next phase of negotiations.

Here are some highlights from his interview with 8 newspapers, including @guardian

theguardian.com/politics/2019/…
@guardian First Barnier's reaction to UK 12 December election

In a statement released after the interview he noted the EU had granted extension to ratify "the fair and reasonable" agreement agreed with UK - echo of Boris Johnson's language.
He hopes that will happen.

2.
MB "I hope that that will be the case between now and the period immediately following the General Election."

Now the interview - his first since taking charge of EU taskforce on the future (aka UKTF - commission decided against TFUK… for some reason).
3.
Read 5 tweets
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Jennifer Rankin
@JenniferMerode
Barely four hours to go until a(nother) Brexit crunch summit and EU member states have not seen any legal text.

"Maybe we will have a deal, or maybe not," says senior EU official, who adds that when Brexit is on the agenda "we should expect the unexpected"
Lack of legal text will be a problem for EU leaders. EU officials will want to pore over the details before leaders sign anything off. "This is an ancient tradition and we are not ready to change it," says source.
EU in the dark about Westminster process.

Source: "We were told in 2018 by the UK government that the ratification takes six months; In the beginning of 2019 we were told it takes six weeks and the latest is that a few days is more than enough. So we will see."
Read 5 tweets

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Yannis Koutsomitis
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Boris Johnson set to make Alok Sharma a minister? Well, there’s a a blast from the past. Remembering that time Sharma hosted the mysterious Joseph Mifsud at his fundraiser. And Johnson denied meeting him. You know, until a photo showed up..

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Critically ill Russian national is 66yo Sergei Skripal, former intel colonel/double agent granted refuge in UK after a 2010 "spy swap" between US & Russia. He and a woman were apparently poisoned in/near Salisbury shopping center. bbc.in/2D2oj7X
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