Chief Political Correspondent @Telegraph | nick.gutteridge@telegraph.co.uk
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EU official says that when leaders asked May what she was going to do if her deal was voted down, she would only reply that she was following her 'Plan A' of getting it through. It was then they decided 'she didn't have a plan so they needed to come up with one for her'.
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Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney not pulling his punches on Brexit. 'The British Government was offered a much longer transition period and they turned it down, yet they're now blaming the EU for it. That's just ridiculous. The decision on the timelines is very much British.'
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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.
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Danish PM Rasmussen on Brexit: 'We need to learn from this choice. For 40 years people of Britain were told how European cooperation was holding them back. In fact Brexit has revealed how European cooperation was solving problems the Brits now have to deal with on their own.'
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Member States have discussed UK refusal to grant EU embassy in London full status. Foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell: 'It's not a friendly signal, the first one UK has sent us immediately after leaving the EU. If things have to continue like this there are no good prospects.'
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Liz Truss is asked if any countries have raised objections with her over the legality of the Rwanda policy. She replies: 'No, in fact what has been raised with me by foreign counterparts is wanting to learn from the UK’s policy so that they can engage in similar arrangements.'
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Bombshell from Macron who suggests if EU doesn't get what it wants on fishing it'll force UK into backstop customs union. WA says fisheries deal should be done by July 2020 so coincides with decision on whether to trigger backstop. Brexiteer MPs' worst nightmare about May's deal.
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Brexit Party leader @Nigel_Farage on Michel Barnier saying neither Theresa May nor any of her three Brexit ministers have ever threatened to walk away from talks and opt for No Deal: 'If he is correct then May has openly lied to the British people and betrayed the Brexit vote.'
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Michel Barnier: 'Sometimes I hear people in the UK public debate say the EU has unreasonable positions but they’re only unreasonable for those who refuse to accept that Brexit has negative consequences.'
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Foreign Office Permanent Under Secretary Sir Simon McDonald says it was a 'political decision' not take part in the EU joint procurement scheme for medical equipment. He says the UK Mission to the EU in Brussels 'briefed ministers about what was available, what was on offer'.
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1/ I've done this before but on a day like today it's worth remembering the striking difference in the way the EU and UK see the backstop. From the Brussels furnace, based on convos with officials/diplomats, the EU perspective (not advocating either way just reporting as ever).
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A senior EU official (who sadly I cannot name because they speak with a clarity and straightforwardness all too rare in the Brexit saga) has just given one of the best descriptions of the EU and why it behaves the way it does I've ever heard. Simple, concise, and to the point.
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Brutal stuff from Dutch PM Rutte: 'It's the UK that Brexit will leave weakened. It's already on the wane compared to 2-3 years ago. It's going to become a middling economy stuck out in the Atlantic. It's too small to appear on the world stage on its own.' elpais.com/internacional/201…
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Hasn't taken EU diplomats long to spot this whacking great bear trap. They're already telling us no way will they grant UK an extension to May 22 without it taking part in EP elections. To do so would create a legally unavoidable cliff edge the day before voters go to the polls.
May is requesting an extension past April 12th - but not past May 22nd. That puts us in the danger zone. Past the point of Euro election participation where no further extension would be possible.
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Ursula von der Leyen says the EU is ready for Russia cutting off gas supplies and is 'now on the safe side for this winter'. She adds: 'One of the main lessons we have already learnt is we must diversify our energy sources and we must get rid of the dependency of Russian gas.'
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Two EU diplomats have told me Theresa May went into her meeting with Donald Tusk on Tuesday and told him she wants Brussels to provide legal assurances the backstop could only last for a year. He told her that was out of the question.
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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'.
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Ursula von der Leyen: 'This Withdrawal Agreement took 3 years to negotiate. We worked relentlessly on it line by line, word by word...we will never backtrack on that. It can't be unilaterally changed, disregarded or misapplied. This is a matter of law and trust and good faith.'
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Stating the obvious but after morning of speaking to sources on EU side one thing has become very clear - Brits blew yesterday big time. From May's dinner speech to Fox on food standards & Orban overtures, every single thing they did annoyed & alarmed EU leaders in equal measure.
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4/ The EU has rules vis-a-vis third countries, they say, and the UK knew this. Indeed, as they see things it's the British attitude that needs a reset. 'The problem is it wants to be a better third country than others, and that’s not an option.'
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Speaking at PMQs, Boris Johnson revives UK threats to trigger Article 16 of the NI Protocol if the EU 'don’t show the requisite common sense' over border checks.
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Barnier: 'I can tell you it will be crystal clear at the end of this negotiation that the best situation and the best relation with the EU will remain to be a member of the EU.'
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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.
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What a delegation of Dutch MPs, who visited the UK last week on a fact-finding mission, thinks of the Brexit debate in the British Parliament. From their official report of the trip. I may be wrong, but I don't think they're very impressed...
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Just 24hrs after Commission said no deal would 'obviously' lead to a hard border its chief negotiator Barnier says EU would actually work with IE & UK to 'find an operational way of carrying out checks & controls without putting back in place a border'. The ferret has reversed.
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Czech PM reveals he told Theresa May in a phone call over the weekend to hold a second referendum and that the Government should campaign to stay in the EU. An extraordinary thing to make public today. Diplomatic norms complete going out the window in the Brexit pressure cooker.
V sobotu jsem si volal s britskou premiérkou @theresa_may. Řešili jsme #brexit. Říkal jsem jí, že nejlepším řešením by bylo, aby Velká Británie zůstala v Evropské unii. Proto jsem přesvědčen, že stojí za to vypsat nové referendum. Odmítla to, ale stále to podle mě není vyloučené.
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EU Commission announces this morning it has 'completed' its no deal planning and warns it is 'increasingly likely that the United Kingdom will leave the European Union without a deal on 12 April'.
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Commission spokesman says that if there's a no deal Brexit 'you will have a hard border' in Ireland. First time it's been put so explicitly on the record.
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5/ That's seen as particularly rich after the UK turned down the EU's offer for a much closer relationship in pursuit of a 'Canada-style' one. Recent complaints perpetuate concerns the UK still hasn't really come to terms with the sovereignty/access trade-off.
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Von der Leyen says the EU could seize production of vaccines and suspend intellectual property rights. 'All options are on the table. We are in the crisis of the century and I'm not ruling out anything for now. We have to make sure Europeans are vaccinated as soon as possible.'
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Liz Truss is asked about Macron's claims the UK has shown 'enthusiasm' for joining a new European political community. 'That’s not true,' she says. 'We see the key guarantor of security in Europe as being NATO...and we see the G7 as the absolutely key economic alliance for us.'
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9/ Usual disclaimer: This is an EU perspective on recent events. I've reported the UK's views extensively in previous tweets. It is useful and healthy to know how both sides see things.
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Just discovered these photos of @JunckerEU being awarded an honorary degree in Portugal and they've made my day already.
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As a weary EU diplomat told me the other day: 'I don't know why you keep coming to us for quotes. You could just re-use what we told you last time, or the time before that, or the time before that, or...' We barely even need to bother asking what EU's response will be to this.
UK PM Theresa May commits to seeking "significant and legally binding change" to EU withdrawal agreement over Northern Ireland backstop
Live #Brexit debate coverage: bbc.in/2G5QSGQ
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1/ Michel Barnier took the unusual step of recommending a legal basis for the future UK-EU partnership before talks have even begun at a meeting of ambassadors yesterday - he proposed Article 217, an Association Agreement. This matters for a few reasons. thesun.co.uk/news/10854190/e…
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1/ So the new UK Govt's negotiating tactic, as revealed by @tnewtondunn, is that the EU will have to 'give us a better deal' when it comes to the crunch because otherwise Ireland is 'f*****' by No Deal. Belt up for the EU's less than impressed response. thesun.co.uk/news/brexit/970…
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Juncker: 'There are those who think that the other 26 countries will abandon Ireland at the last minute for a sectoral deal that suits them. Those people have not understood what being part of our Union means. Ireland’s border is Europe’s border and it is our Union’s priority.'
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Boris Johnson: 'All European countries need to get Nord Stream [2] out of the bloodstream - yank out that hypodermic drip feed of Russian hydrocarbons. We need to find alternative sources of energy, to get ready to impose some very, very severe economic consequences on Russia.'
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EU Commission: 'We're convinced the UK regulators are very good, but we're definitely not in the game of comparing regulators across countries nor of commenting on claims as to who is better. This is not a football competition. We're talking about the life and health of people.'
U.K. Says It Won Vaccine Race Because It’s a ‘Better Country’
(Bloomberg) - A minister in Boris Johnson’s government said on Thursday the U.K. won the race to approve a coronavirus vaccine because it’s a “better country”. (1/2)
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1/ This was, on reflection, a truly farcical escape attempt. Firstly, Javid's officials seemed stunned to see journalists. In the EU Parliament. They genuinely thought the Home Secretary could come to Brussels and we wouldn't find out about it, which is astonishing naivety.
Home Secretary Sajid Javid runs away from press pack waiting to talk to him about his meeting with Guy Verhofstadt over settled status at EU Parliament today. Will only say it was ‘constructive’ and blanks all questions as he’s bundled into a lift by team of about 10 officials.
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Alternative view from EU27 side of Salzburg newsroom is 'what else did you expect?' Bemused by all the fuss & point out (correctly) EU leaders haven't actually said anything today they haven't said via Barnier many times before. UK & EU at cross purposes 'like Venus & Mars'.
This summit was meant to be about the EU playing nice and giving May a much needed breather. Instead leaders have killed Chequers, delivered a four week ultimatum over Ireland and swallowed the Macron playbook for the EU-UK trade blueprint. All in all not a good day for the PM.
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7/ It's the same with the NI Protocol. The EU is willing to look at facilitations and the application on the ground, but not wholesale changes. The Protocol, again, is seen in Brussels and EU capitals as a consequence of the UK's chosen red lines.
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Irish PM Leo Varadkar: 'I do believe there’s a majority that the UK should not be plunged into a no-deal scenario and it is in their hands at any point in time to take the threat of no-deal off the table either by revoking Article 50 or if that’s a step too far, by extending it.'
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1/ Behind the scenes the third country listing or 'food blockade' row isn't quite so dramatic. The EU wants the UK to provide details of its post-Brexit animal and plant health (SPS) rules by the end of next month. The UK says it will, and they'll basically be the same as now.
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EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell adds: 'We won't accept the UK will be the only country in the world that doesn't recognise the delegation of the EU as the equivalent of a diplomatic mission. We expect the UK to treat the EU delegation accordingly and without delay.'
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Theresa May: 'As a patriot I would not want to do anything that would diminish this country in the eyes of the world. This bill is not legal in international law, will not achieve its aims and will diminish the standing of the UK in the eyes of the world and I cannot support it.'
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6/ That doesn't mean there isn't a willingness to work on solutions, however tricky they may be. On shellfish, for example, one EU source says where there's a will there's a way. But any solution 'will always be a compromise that will come with some demands on this side as well'.
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Michel Barnier this afternoon on fishing negotiations: 'Obviously the UK will recover the full sovereignty on their waters - no doubt, no question. But it is another thing, another story, speaking about the fish which are inside the waters.' A striking quote.
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5/ Eventually, the Home Secretary was free and off into the warm Brussels air having learnt a cursory lesson about the importance of having a solid exit plan. This is the ultimate moral of #liftgate. The End.
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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.
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Senior EU diplomat: May's letter has arrived 'too late' for EU leaders to make a decision on an Article 50 extension at tomorrow's summit.
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Former PM Theresa May criticises the Northern Ireland Protocol bill 'Do I consider this to be legal under international law, will it achieve its aims and does it at least maintain the standing of the UK in the eyes of the world? My answer to all three of those questions is no.'
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Outspoken from EU trade boss Hogan: ‘UK politicians & govt have certainly decided COVID is going to be blamed for all the fallout from Brexit. They don't want to drag the negotiations out into 2021 because they can effectively blame COVID for everything.’ uk.reuters.com/article/uk-he…
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Unprecedented for @MichelBarnier to tweet out the details of negotiations in this way. It shows just how angered the EU was by the excerpts of Theresa May's speech released last night, which they saw as the UK starting a 'blame game' over who will be responsible for no deal.
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EU diplomat jokes DD delayed his resignation because he didn't want to take a taxi back from Chequers. Then brutally adds: 'We're already used to negotiating with Olly Robbins, so this resignation doesn't really affect the negotiations.' Ouch 🔥
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8/ After four years of covering Brexit from here in Brussels, it's that same old feeling of the two sides talking at cross-purposes. Relations are in a tetchy place right now, and the drinks trolley with the G&T and peanuts is still stowed away.
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These signs were left out for UK delegates attending Michel Barnier’s speech at the EU Parliament today. Call me a sop but I think they’re kind of nice.
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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'.
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Irish PM says EU vaccine export ban would be 'a very retrograde step' and 'if we start that we're in trouble'. Adds he made it 'very clear' to other leaders he's against it. 'They're not EU vaccines. These are vaccines paid for by other countries that are manufactured in Europe.'
LIVE: Interview with Taoiseach Micheál Martin on @RTENewsAtOne | bit.ly/3vQuVTu nitter.app/i/broadcasts/1gqxvoYaq…
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Understand talks between Cox/Barclay and Barnier went so badly the 2 sides are going to review tomorrow whether it's even worth holding more meetings this week. Big row is over UK ask for independent review which EU sees as threat to its legal order. Negotiators miles apart atm.
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Senior EU official: 'With every summit the trust in Barnier and the support of Barnier only increases. Sometimes you have the impression telling the truth is being interpreted as lack of respect, but we believe on the contrary telling the truth is the way to demonstrate respect.'
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Sources here are very unsure as to what the UK has been trying to achieve these last few days with the Frost interview, PM's intervention, and now this Northern Ireland Protocol row. One muses: 'You know what they say about dogs - the louder they bark, the more anxious they are.'
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French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian pulled Dominic Raab to one side at today's E3 meeting in London on Iran to tell him breaching the Withdrawal Agreement would be 'unacceptable', his spokesman says. Awkward for UK Govt if the issue spills over into other diplomatic fora.
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EP Brexit coordinator Guy Verhofstadt: 'Boris will find the EP an open and constructive partner. I look forward to alleviating his concerns regarding the imminent accession of Turkey to the EU, whilst explaining the EU has no rules on the packaging of kippers in the UK.' 🔥💥💣
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EU Commission First Vice-President Frans Timmermans with an absolute corker of a eurocrat sentence: 'We must look at ways to simplify simplifications and eliminate the burdens of burden reduction.'
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6/ Must be remembered the EU is largely a club of small/medium-sized nations who are in it to amplify their presence/security in an uncertain world. So for them, the implications of one of their own being thrown to the wolves are seen as more damaging than the impact of No Deal.
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Graceless, classless, mean-spirited, divisive, nasty and cheap. Quite simply beyond contempt. This tweet perfectly encapsulates everything our wonderful owner wasn’t.
#LeicesterCityFC listen to how they mourn for a man who was a foreigner, cosmopolitan, 'person of nowhere' in Theresa May's words. What do your white natvist influencers have to say about that??
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16/ So all of this is why the EU side can't understand the UK obsession with ditching the backstop. One diplomat argues 'Europe needs to make the case that what we offered is not such a bad deal'. Truth is that horse has long since bolted and started a new life on the moors. ENDS
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German MEP Manfred goes on the attack over blue passports: 'The whole story is a scam - you didn’t have to leave the Union for that.' Jibes: 'Blue passports are only thing the British Govt has achieved in one and a half years of negotiations.' Ouch!
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On the EU's own 2017 Justice Scoreboard, Spain comes right near the bottom for public/business perception of judiciary independence. The main complaint? 'Interference or pressure from government and politicians.' #Catalonia
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Danish PM Rasmussen: 'We left them with opportunity to rethink the whole thing. So what we made gives UK best opportunities to decide their own destiny. if they don't want a hard Brexit & want to redefine their own red lines & negotiate a whole new package that's a possibility.'
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By requesting a Brexit delay to June 30, a date she knows full well EU won't accept as she was told that in person just a few weeks ago, May is basically once more asking EU27 leaders to make a decision for her on the length of an extension. They're likely to go for about a year.
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Some incredulity within the EU27 tonight about what on earth is going on in Westminster and how exactly May is still Prime Minister. One dumbfounded senior EU diplomat tells me: 'This goes against everything I know about politics. How can the UK Parliament allow this to go on?'
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Theresa May: £150,000
Emmanuel Macron: £160,000
Angela Merkel: £194,000
Donald Trump: £317,000
Jean-Claude Juncker: £353,000
Donald Tusk: £353,000
Cost of living pay hike means that Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission will earn about €32,700 euros a month, about €550 more than previously.
EC says 1.5% inflation hike an effective reduction in purchasing power of 0.6%
telegraph.co.uk/politics/201…
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Michel Barnier has told David Frost he sees no need to travel to London at the weekend for more 'probably pointless' talks unless there's movement on the three key sticking points. No decision has been made yet, but neither side is denying this report. lesechos.fr/monde/europe/bre…
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Michel Barnier: 'This isn't just a trade agreement in the normal way. When negotiating with Canada or Japan, if we fail to reach an agreement we just take more time and until agreement is found the status quo remains. In this specific case we will not have that status quo.'
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EU Commission spokesman: 'You either have a deal or you don’t have a deal. There is no possibility to extend the Transition Period beyond that point [January 1]. That date is set in stone.'
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Weyand: 'We’re not going to reopen the Agreement. The result of the negotiation has been very much shaped by the UK negotiators, much more than they actually get credit for. This is a bit like snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. The backstop was very much shaped by UK.'
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EU Transport Commissioner praises UK authorities for their efforts to get freight moving across the Channel again, and says she 'deplores' France's decision to shut its border.
Around 10.000 truck drivers are seeking to get back in the EU. Other thousands are already in the Dover area in their vehicles.
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This is superb by Ivan Rogers, the UK’s former ambassador to the EU. Hits every nail on the head as usual. Get a cuppa first though - it’s a long read. blogs.spectator.co.uk/2018/1…
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Ouch! Tusk: 'I heard the Chancellor’s words about financial services being very much in the mutual interest of the UK and the EU. I fully respect his competence in what is defining what is in the UK’s interests, however he’ll have to let us define what is in the EU’s interest.'
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Happening already. Had a chat with one of the Sweden Democrats' MEPs last week about the upcoming election there. One of the things he said was that they're focussing less on Swexit because the way Brexit is going has made it so hard to put forward in debate as a credible option.
Here's an optimistic conclusion. After Brexit, any nationalist pol who says 'Let's follow the Brits out' will be laughed at by voters, who will be aware of the chaotic economic and political impact on the UK. Therefore Brexit is likely to be a unique scientific experiment.
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1/ EU sources are pointing out today it's not only PM Johnson's demand that the backstop be scrapped that is problematic in his letter to Donald Tusk, but also the fact that it is paired with confirmation that it is the UK's intention to diverge from EU rules in the future.
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Lord Frost says the UK will have fewer 'physical checks' on imports than the EU when full border/customs controls are finally introduced. 'We don't have to replicate everything the EU does. We intend to have a world class border by 2025 with proportionate checks based on risk.'
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EU Commissioner Maros Sefcovic says Michael Gove was very explicit there won't be a transition extension under any circumstances. He says: 'I take this as a definite conclusion of this discussion.'
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Juncker: 'If we go into negotiations on future we need to have a well constructed proposal & cogent ideas from UK. I find it uncomfortable there’s an impression in UK it’s for EU to propose solutions. I’d have thought it was rather more up to UK Gov to tell us what they want.'
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Norwegian PM Erna Solberg says the Nick Boles plan for Britain to temporarily join EFTA would be ‘a little bit difficult’ for the other members to accept. That’s a diplomatic no thank you, then. But Oslo remains open to permanent British membership.
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Germany set to abolish renewables levy on electricity bills to help people with spiralling energy costs, says the country's Green economic affairs minister. It had already been slashed by 43% in October last year. Interesting in context of UK debate too. nordot.app/86915569743888384…
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Boris Johnson turns up to meet Xavier Bettel to a very loud chorus of boos from the anti-Brexit protest just outside.
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Barnier says if there's no deal 'a few months after I'm sure UK will ask EU to begin negotiations' on trade. But warns 'In that case Withdrawal Agreement we put on the table at the beginning of this negotiation will be still here. Citizens rights, Ireland, financial obligations.'
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The Netherlands is by some margin the best prepared EU27 state for both a no deal scenario and therefore, by extension, also for the checks that would come with a Canada-style FTA. Because of this it is also the most bemused by Britain's total lack of similar preparation.
Dutch Gov advice to its biz:
“opps for market access for UK competitors are deteriorating. Their access to EU countries is deteriorating. Your UK competitors may also not be able to use EU trade agreements. Check whether to strengthen your competitive position in these markets”
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Irish deputy PM Coveney: 'No way EU will ever sign up to a trade deal that allows tariff/quota free & frictionless access to UK goods if there isn’t a Level Playing Field in terms of how they’re produced. I don’t think anyone in UK should underestimate the strength of feeling.'
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Ouch! Varadkar: 'The responsibility of any prime minister is to ensure that they can follow through on agreements that they make and we are surprised and disappointed that they haven’t been able to.'
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Angela Merkel was asked by a tourist how Brexit talks are going while out for a beer in central Brussels last night with Emmanuel Macron and other leaders. She replied: "Please, it's a wonderful evening - let's not spoil it with that!" Know the feeling, Mutti. Know the feeling.
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1/ EU officials and diplomats were dismayed by last night's furore in Parliament, and events in general over the past few weeks. They have left them questioning how they will deal for years - even decades - to come with a Britain that looks increasingly divided and dysfunctional.
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I don’t think this is a fair representation of how British journos in Brussels have reported on the EU throughout Brexit. We‘re here to inform people on the EU’s positions and how it works, but I don’t know any who have done so unquestioningly or espoused such a ‘false mantra’.
I do wish British journalists — esp Brussels-based — would stop repeating the false mantra that the EU holds all the cards in upcoming negotiations. It holds many, perhaps more than UK. But if UK left on WTO rules it would have total regulatory freedom. EU’s worst nightmare.
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