UK 'failing to engage' in Brexit talks, says EU chief Michel Barnier

The UK “failed to engage substantially” on key sticking points in Brexit talks held this week, the EU’s chief negotiator has said.

Michel Barnier accused also Boris Johnson’s government of rowing back on commitments made in writing by the Britain at the point before exit.

The two sides restarted stalled negotiations on Monday via videoconference after disruption caused by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic prevented them from meeting in person.

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They are trying to strike a free trade deal by the end of the year to prevent the UK crashing out of the single market on World Trade Organisation terms – an end result expected to cause significant economic damage.

Speaking at an online press conference to mark the end of the round of talks, Mr Barnier listed a number of continued sticking points in negotiations: the extent to which the UK would respect EU regulations and standards, the governance of the deal, whether the UK would formally stay in the European Convention on Human Rights, and the question of fisheries.

“This week the UK failed to engage substantially on these topics,” he said, addressing the issue of the so-called “level playingfield” for regulations.

“It argued that our positions are too far apart to reach an agreement – it also denounced the basis premise that economic consecutiveness and geographic proximity require robust guarantees. Yet again, this is what we agreed with Boris Johnson in our joint political declaration. This is what the UK Parliament approved after the December elections at the same time as the withdrawal agreement.

Citing the political declaration on the future relationship approved by the UK and its parliament, Mr Barnier added: “What is written in this text needs to be implemented in a serious, objective, legal way in the negotiation. This is not the case yet, I regret that and it worries me.”

Mr Barnier also lambasted Mr Johnson’s government for taking the approach he described while refusing to extend the transition period, arguing that the “UK cannot refuse to extend the transition and at the same time slow down discussions on important areas”.

The chief negotiator underscored a series of deadlines hanging over Brexit talks: June for choosing whether to extend the transition period, July for reaching a deal on fisheries, and December for negotiating a trade agreement and also fully implementing the deal to solve the Irish border approved last year.

UK officials believe they are being firm and constructive and that the EU side would have to accommodate themselves to that

They deny that they are not engaging but say this is different to agreeing with the EU.

A UK Government spokesperson describe the negotiating round as “full and constructive” but admitted that “limited progress was made in bridging the gaps between us and the EU”.

“Our assessment is that there was some promising convergence in the core areas of a Free Trade Agreement, for example on goods and services trade, and related issues such as energy, transport, and civil nuclear cooperation,” the spokesperson said.

“We regret however that the detail of the EU’s offer on goods trade falls well short of recent precedent in FTAs it has agreed with other sovereign countries.