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9 Feb, 6 tweets, 1 min read
Gove compares the first weeks of UK-EU relations to turbulence after take off. 'Eventually you reach a cruising attitude and the crew tell you to take your seatbelts off and enjoy a G&T and some peanuts. We’re not at the G&T and peanuts stage yet but I’m confident we will be.'
Ex UK negotiator Lord Frost says the EU 'is still adjusting somewhat to the existence of a genuinely independent actor in its neighbourhood'. Adds: 'I hope we’ll get over this. It is going to require a different spirit probably from the EU, but I’m sure we are going to see that.'
* Altitude!
Lord Frost says the Commission has forewarned there will be a formal request from the EU to extend the 2-month ratification period for the Brexit deal, which he calls 'a little disappointing'. Says he doesn't know how long it will be for (understand April 30 is most likely date).
On Brussels' pending data adequacy decision re the UK, Lord Frost says: 'We await the EU’s verdict. Since we’re operating exactly the same legislation at the point of exit and we haven’t changed it, it would be surprising if we’re not and that’s the assumption we’re working on.'
Gove doesn't want to publicly say why the UK hasn't granted full diplomatic status to the EU ambassador in London. But he insists it's 'nothing to do with the individual concerned, but everything to do with the way certain aspects of diplomatic accreditation can and should work'.

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More from @nickgutteridge

Nick Gutteridge Profile picture
9 Feb
1/ Some EU frustration at UK griping over trade problems and suggestions Brussels needs to improve its attitude to make the relationship work better. There's a feeling of déjà vu, that the UK never really accepted the practical reality of the deal it wanted and still doesn't.
2/ In particular there's exasperation that the UK is moaning about the deal not including arrangements that it ruled out itself to keep its own red lines intact. It's seen as a pattern of behaviour - first there was visa-free travel for musicians, now it's shellfish.
3/ EU sources say the lack of provisions on shellfish exports was brought up numerous times in the talks as a concern. But the UK refused to engage, as it did on wider SPS issues, over fears of 'being drawn into the EU's regulatory sphere'.
Read 9 tweets
Nick Gutteridge Profile picture
8 Feb
Michael Gove says the figure given for exports from the UK to EU falling by 68% since the start of the year 'was erroneous and based on a partial survey'.
Cabinet office official Emma Churchill says 'trade flows have held up exceptionally well since the end of the Transition Period' despite a dip in early January. This month total outbound across all UK ports is 98% of the equivalent last year and inbound trade is at 99%, she says.
* This should have said GB ports, as the figures quoted relate to GB-EU trade. Jessica Glover, another Cabinet Office official, separately said GB-NI trade flows are 'back to normal and indeed are slightly higher now than they were in the equivalent week last year'.
Read 4 tweets
Nick Gutteridge Profile picture
8 Feb
Michael Gove: 'It is still of concern that as things stand the EU reserve the right potentially to return to Article 16 in this area. I think there needs to be a realisation on all sides this isn't some arcane bit of diplomatic procedure, this is real consequences on the ground.'
Michael Gove says issues arising from the NI Protocol 'can be solved pragmatically'. E.g: 'It doesn't threaten the integrity of the EU Single Market to have bulbs ordered from a wholesaler in Scotland or England, which will then be planted in a garden in Belfast or Ballymena.'
Gove adds: 'If people put a particular type of integrationist theology ahead of the interests of the people of NI they aren't serving the cause of peace and progress. There are very good people in the EU's institutions and architecture who take incredibly seriously these issues.'
Read 6 tweets
Nick Gutteridge Profile picture
7 Feb
1/ As the dust settles, how is Ursula von der Leyen being judged over the EU's vaccine rollout? There are varying views, but all agree that the Commission has made mistakes, and all equally agree its President is under no pressure whatsoever to resign. thetimes.co.uk/article/the-eu…
2/ There is widespread frustration across Member States about the pace of the EU's vaccines programme. There is harsh criticism, too, of VDL's working methods which involve relying on a very small number of advisers. Though she's hardly the first leader to face that accusation.
3/ Some critics say the Commission saw an opportunity to 'act like a Government' in the hope it would take the glory for the vaccines rollout. But now that the programme has run into trouble it doesn't want to take the responsibility in the same way national governments have to.
Read 10 tweets
Nick Gutteridge Profile picture
17 Dec 20
1/ Brexit talks nugget: The two sides have wrapped up negotiations on public procurement. The UK will give European companies bidding for public sector contracts 'equal treatment' to British ones and vice-versa, Michel Barnier briefed MEPs. He called it 'a very good agreement'.
2/ Throughout the talks the UK had been insisting the public procurement provisions should be based on WTO rules, but it has shifted that stance late in the day. The UK sought generous terms in this area with Japan and is doing so in talks with the US, Australia, and New Zealand.
3/ EU figures estimate public sector spending makes up about 15 per cent of GDP in most developed economies, so this is a really important issue for both sides. European firms have huge financial interests in the UK - from running rail franchises to making the new blue passports.
Read 4 tweets
Nick Gutteridge Profile picture
13 Dec 20
1/ As Brexit talks enter what might be their last few hours, the key hurdle to overcome is how to agree on what the EU calls 'managed divergence' and the UK has dubbed 'lightning tariffs'. Despite the doom and gloom, there are signs the sides aren't quite as far apart as appears.
2/ The EU has dropped its insistence on a 'ratchet clause' which would have formalised the principle both sides should keep up with each other's standards. It's now ready to cater for divergence in the future so long as there are strong safeguards to rebalance unfair competition.
3/ This is a shift from the EU, which previously rejected managed divergence as too messy and risky for its economies. They worried it would create constant uncertainty for them. It thus represents a fair departure from the EU's opening position on LPF.
Read 10 tweets

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