![]() The threats from the EU side that Barnier is prepared to stall talks if the U.K. “Bear in mind they are at the moment getting over £10 billion per annum net from the U.K., which they are going to be concerned about … It’s a significant sum and I know that particularly some of the smaller EU nations are concerned about this,” he said. could leave without being subject to EU treaties, “which of course include us making payments.” Jones, who until shortly after the June 8 election was part of the team preparing the U.K.’s negotiating plan, pointed out that a no-deal scenario would hurt the EU too because the U.K. is holding better cards in the talks than the EU side appears to give them credit for. Now, the Europeans are reassured, the person insisted.ĮU officials, though, continued to insist they were frustrated by the U.K.’s refusal to produce a formal counterproposal to the bloc’s estimate of the divorce bill.įormer Brexit Minister and Vote Leave campaigner David Jones said in an interview that the U.K. ![]() This has long been the British view, but negative noises from Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson (who told Brussels it could “go whistle” over the so-called Brexit bill) and political instability in Westminster had alarmed EU negotiators. “There is confidence that they understand this is now a question of categorizing obligations and quantifying them,” said an individual familiar with the British position. They’re now arguing over the size of the bill. When it comes to the meat of discussions themselves, British negotiators say they wanted to get a clearer view into Brussels’ position on financial obligations and give the Commission confidence that the U.K. They even say the official picture shows off their smarts: The lack of papers was intentional, designed to avoid giving paparazzi a scoop by snatching a photo of unsuspecting officials carrying notes on their way into the negotiation room. team. “Is that narrative frustrating? Yes, but most people on the British side are big enough and ugly enough to know this is the kind of thing that happens in a negotiation.”įar from rethinking their approach, the British team heads into the final day of this week’s talks sounding sanguine. ![]() ![]() “There is the feeling that the EU is getting their excuses in early for when negotiations get difficult: ‘The Brits were unprepared’,” said one individual familiar with senior level thinking on the U.K. ![]()
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