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27 Nov, 4 tweets, 1 min read
Quick update on @MichelBarnier's briefing to EU ambassadors this morning at 0830 on Brexit state of play. The same sticking points are there: LPF, fisheries, governance, but a lot of work is being done. "They're still talking, which is good," acc to one diplomat
2/ Diplomat adds: "They are working hard. It's positive that they are talking. They are seriously engaged, but the political decisions have not yet been taken in the UK."

Barnier did not speculate about when a deal might be reached. Acc to source he was keeping his cards close
3/ "The calendar is in everybody's minds: it's five weeks to go. But he didn't speculate."

Mr Barnier will travel to London tonight to resume face to face talks over the weekend.
4/ Source says Barnier did not elaborate on the idea of a review clause for any fisheries agreement that would extend to the entire FTA.

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More from @tconnellyRTE

Tony Connelly Profile picture
27 Nov
New: EU and UK officials are expressing confidence that an overarching agreement on the outstanding issues of the Northern Ireland Protocol can be agreed in the coming weeks.
2/ Sources say that officials are making progress on all the key obstacles that have held up the full implementation of the Protocol in recent months.
3/ The Protocol is due to enter into force on January 1, when Northern Ireland remains within the EU’s single market for goods and the rest of the UK formally leaves the European Union.
Read 14 tweets
Tony Connelly Profile picture
25 Nov
How significant were @vonderleyen's remarks to the European Parliament this morning?

One senior EU diplomat says takes note in particular of her opening words. "Frankly, I cannot tell you today if in the end there will be a deal."
2/ That this sentiment is being expressed by the European Commission President on Nov 25 with just over a month to Jan 1, is significant. In Brussels there are only two questions: will there be enough time to ratify any deal? Is @BorisJohnson prepared to take a big political step
3/ Yes, it takes two to tango, etc. But it's clear from Von der Leyen's comments that the EU is going to stand firm on the level playing field issue.
Read 21 tweets
Tony Connelly Profile picture
25 Nov
Commission president @vonderleyen tells the European Parliament that three big issues remain in the Brexit negotiations: level playing field, governance, fisheries. These issues “can make the difference between a deal and No Deal”
2/ “We are ready to be creative but we are not ready to put into question the integrity of the single market, the main safeguard of European prosperity and wealth
3/ “That is why we need to establish robust mechanisms ensuring that competition is free and fair over time”
Read 9 tweets
Tony Connelly Profile picture
20 Nov
New: Member states have been told by the European Commission that 95pc of the EU-UK future relationship treaty has been completed, but that wide gaps remain on the three key issues of the level playing field, governance and fisheries
2/ This came during a briefing of EU ambassadors this morning by the sec gen of the European Commission Ilze Juhansone, standing in for Michel Barnier
3/ Although 95pc complete, there are square brackets in key areas of the text, meaning bits that remain open and that are linked to an overall deal. These are in the field of energy, road haulage, aviation, rules of origin
Read 14 tweets
Tony Connelly Profile picture
19 Nov
Here's my latest on the Brexit negotiations...

There's a lot of talk about time pressure +who that benefits. The EU has more onerous ratification obligations than the UK, eg the European Parliament will have to ratify the week beginning Dec 14 (the UK gov has more discretion)
2/ As has been widely discussed, the EP typically needs 4 wks to run it through its committees (no fewer than 11 cttees scrutinised the WA); there's the legal scrubbing, and translation into 23 languages by lawyer-linguists.
3/ However the EU is shifting strategy, going for "patience" and finding legal solutions to remove any time pressure caused by all the procedures. This cd include Provisional Application of parts of a deal from Jan 1, but that's regarded as "messy" and would only gain a few weeks
Read 13 tweets
Tony Connelly Profile picture
16 Nov
If you’re wondering about the UK Parliament’s role in ratifying the EU-UK future relationship treaty, there’s a handy guide here from the House of Commons Library commonslibrary.parliament.uk/uk-parliaments…
2/ But to save you the trouble, I’ve summarised it here.
3/ Firstly, it’s the UK govt, not parliament, which negotiates a treaty under its prerogative power. These powers are subject to some constraints. The Constitutional Reform & Governance Act (CRAG) gives parliament a limited role in ratifying treaties
Read 14 tweets

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