I can no longer see a path to a deal.
Every UK position boils down to: “We will agree to stuff, with no adjudication or enforcement mechanisms. Why don’t you trust us?”
Every EU response (fairly, vis-a-vis UK backtracking during negotiations) is simply: “Because we know you.”
Every UK position boils down to: “We will agree to stuff, with no adjudication or enforcement mechanisms. Why don’t you trust us?”
Every EU response (fairly, vis-a-vis UK backtracking during negotiations) is simply: “Because we know you.”
All other matters are trifling in comparison. This is the insurmountable obstacle. UK, as a newly independent country, feels entitled to absolute trust. But its behaviour, both as member and since referendum, is of extreme bad faith. So EU requires iron-clad, punitive guarantees.
I can’t see how this gets bridged. There was some cleverness yesterday (see @DmitryOpines TL) about a sliding scale of tariffs depending on LPFcompliance. But that’s not a deal; it’s an unstable non-aggression pact. How can business plan, nit knowing tariffs in a year or five?
