Thread by @nickgutteridge

1/ There are two Brexit meetings in London today. First, the Joint Committee which will be dominated by the row over the NI Protocol. Second, the inaugural Partnership Council at which issues related to wider UK-EU relations will be discussed. A (sorry not so brief) rundown 👇

2/ The Joint Committee will be by far the most difficult of the two. There has been a lot of rhetoric flying around on both sides in the last few days about who is to blame for the problems arising from checks in the Irish Sea, and how they can be fixed.

3/ Communities Secretary Rob Jenrick largely summed up the UK's position this morning. He said the EU is interpreting the controls required under the Protocol in an unexpectedly 'rigid and unpragmatic way' and that the Government is 'asking them to show some common sense'.

4/ The UK has, perhaps unsurprisingly, decided to pick on the pending chilled meats ban as an example of this. Jenrick says: 'It would be absurd if there were legal cases over whether a sausage manufactured in Birmingham could be exported to be sold in Sainsbury's in Belfast.'

5/ EU food safety rules state that chilled meats like sausages and burgers can't be imported into the Single Market. The two sides agreed a six month grace period during which these rules wouldn't apply to NI, to allow supermarkets there to adapt. That period runs out on June 31.

6/ The UK is now talking about unilaterally extending that derogation (as it has previously done for other grace periods). It says the point of the Protocol was to ensure the free flow of goods both North-South and East-West. The EU says the UK knew the rules it signed up to.

7/ There are many other issues related to the Protocol that are also causing friction, including the extent of checks on supermarket goods. Indeed, the UK is unhappy about the burden of controls required across the board and says they've having a 'chilling effect' on business.

8/ The reason the EU is wary about granting permanent exemptions on many of these issues, by the way, is because of the precedent it would set in terms of trade access to the Single Market. They don't want to open the door for other third countries to demand similar privileges.

9/ Brussels has floated offers of compromise on everything from availability of medicines to guide dogs and VAT on second hand cars, and says it's 'working with the UK on every measure feasibly possible'. But on the biggie, which is agrifood checks, the two sides are poles apart.

10/ The EU says the 'only solution' is a Swiss-style arrangement and the UK dynamically aligning with its plant and animal health rules. It says a New Zealand-style deal, where the sides would recognise each other's different rulebooks as equivalent, wouldn't solve the problem.

11/ But that has been rejected by the UK which says it would undermine its global trade talks. No 10 also strongly suspects this is a gambit to try and reopen last year's deal by the backdoor and secure a concession many EU countries wanted, but Michel Barnier failed to secure.

12/ The EU says it has recognised the UK's concerns about sovereignty by offering to make such a solution 'temporary' and that it could be reviewed once the UK has finished negotiating its major trade deals. 'We continue not to understand why they would not accept this option.'

13/ Is there a narrow window to a deal? Perhaps. The UK says the issues can be solved with tech solutions like trusted trader schemes. While the EU is sceptical in some areas, it insists it does recognise the UK's concerns and is open to 'a discussion on extended flexibilities'.

14/ Brussels is however adamant such talks can only take place once the UK starts implementing the Protocol properly. It says until that happens, it can't get a grip on how well the system is working and in particular the scale of the threat to the Single Market from smuggling.

15/ The EU complains the UK hasn't recruited and trained enough customs staff, has halted building permanent border control posts, and hasn't provided adequate IT infrastructure and access so it can track goods. 'The fundamental problem is we don’t have eyes on what’s going on.'

16/ 'Union representatives still can't follow movements of goods electronically and it seems UK not taking this issue seriously. The UK simply repeats that goods coming from GB pose no risk as if UK was still part of Single Market. This kind of approach we find deeply unhelpful.'

17/ If this can be sorted there's more room for EU flexibility. But only so much. 'Some of the UK requests go to the absolute core of the Protocol. I’m afraid very often calls for flexibility simply reflect the willingness of the UK not to respect its international obligations.'

18/ Away from NI there are various issues on the wider relationship that officials want to try and iron out through the Partnership Council. On the agenda today is a mix of UK and EU concerns covering fishing, customs checks, participation in EU programmes, and citizens' rights.

19/ France asked that the row over licenses for fishing in Jersey waters be discussed. Officials can see scope for a detente there. Similarly, the EU side will also bring up UK work visa fees, which discriminate between different Member States, and the detention of EU citizens.

20/ The UK wants to discuss the different approaches individual Member States are taking to carrying out customs checks on British goods. It will also raise the slowness of the EU to approve its participation in programmes like Horizon, and further boosting judicial cooperation.