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8 Dec, 4 tweets, 1 min read
This has been reported elsewhere, but Michel Barnier indeed gave another downbeat assessment on prospects for a deal to the General Affairs Council (GAC) this morning, similar, if not worse, to the 'incredibly' gloomy assessment yesterday.
It appears that more member states are calling for No Deal contingency measures to be brought forward, and there is some suggestion - not confirmed - that these measures will go before the College of Commissioners tomorrow morning.
"Barnier said to the GAC, we're at a tipping point and it's now tipping in the direction of no deal, and the contingency measures will add to this," says one source present. "The focus is now increasingly here on no deal."
"I'm not sure London has grasped the extent to which a number of member states, even ones normally sympathetic to the UK, are now looking at no deal. There's quite a bit of momentum to no deal," says the source

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More from @tconnellyRTE

Tony Connelly Profile picture
10 Dec
BREAKING: The UK will make a unilateral declaration promising to remain fully aligned to EU food safety and animal health rules for the production of agrifood products destined for Northern Ireland after January 1, @rtenews News has learned.
2/ The EU will also issue its own declaration recognising that British food meets European safety standards during two separate grace periods, one for three months and another for six months.
3/ The declarations will form part of a final sequence of agreements allowing the NI Protocol to take effect.The overall package will be signed off by the Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove and European Commission vice president Maros Sefcovic no later than next week
Read 21 tweets
Tony Connelly Profile picture
10 Dec
The Taoiseach @MichealMartinTD has said there will be no winners or losers in the final stages of the EU UK trade negotiations. Speaking in Brussels he said it was positive that both sets of negotiators would keep talking
2/ “There can be no winners or losers in these negotiations from now on. There has to be a common purpose in terms of getting a deal over the line, because it makes sense to get a trading deal.
3/ “I didn’t expect a breakthrough last evening. I think the fact that they met for quite a lengthy period of time and had that frank exchange of views is a good thing, and the fact that negotiators are mandated to go back in again and try and break the logjam is positive.
Read 5 tweets
Tony Connelly Profile picture
10 Dec
NEW: @CBeaune French Europe minister has told @rte news “the negotiations still have a chance to lead to a deal”. But on fish, LPF “we will defend our core interests” The negotiating mandate will stay the same, he said
2/ “We can find compromises, we can make efforts - both sides - but the key interests of the EU must be respected by the UK”
3/ “We want to have stable access to U.K. waters but then we can discuss parameters, but this is absolutely fundamental.”
Read 4 tweets
Tony Connelly Profile picture
10 Dec
NEW: Mairead McGuinness, Ireland's EU Commissioner, tells @morningireland "there is a deal to be done" and that last night's dinner will have clarified what the faultlines are, and "if we take the heat" out of the issues around sovereignty and independence
.@McGuinnessEU said there was "one glimmer of hope" in the EU statement, ie that "We gained a clear understanding of each other´s positions, qualifying that by saying both sides remained far apart"
McGuinness says the European Commission will issue No Deal contingency plans "later today or tomorrow". "I hope they won't have to be implemented and that we get a Christmas present over the weekend"
Read 8 tweets
Tony Connelly Profile picture
9 Dec
EU and UK negotiators have until Sunday to reach agreement on a future trade deal following an inconclusive three-hour meeting between British Prime Boris Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

A senior UK source described the discussion as "frank".
2/ "Very large gaps remain between the two sides and it is still unclear whether these can be bridged," the source said.

"The prime minister and Ursula von der Leyen agreed to further discussions over the next few days between their negotiating teams.
3/ "The prime minister does not want to leave any route to a possible deal untested. The Prime Minister and Ursula von der Leyen agreed that by Sunday a firm decision should be taken about the future of the talks."
Read 5 tweets
Tony Connelly Profile picture
9 Dec
BREAKING: The EU and UK have agreed a trusted trader scheme that would mean exemptions from tariffs for up to 98pc of goods flowing between Great Britain and Northern Ireland from January 1, @rtenews has learned.
The other 2% wd potentially avail of rebates from any tariffs.
2/ Tariffs would mostly only apply if no free trade agreement is concluded between the EU and UK.

Both sides have also agreed that agrifood products coming from GB to Northern Ireland will be exempt from requiring export health certificates for a period of at least three months
3/ These have proved the biggest concern for UK supermarket chains in NI, who rely on large and mixed consignments of food coming from GB depots.
Export health certificates can cost up to £200 per product and need to be signed off by a designated veterinary inspector.
Read 17 tweets

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