Michel Barnier rules out nonstop Brexit talks

EU Brexit negotiator says he needs time between rounds to brief leaders in Brussels and beyond.

The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier ruled out Thursday the possibility of nonstop talks with the U.K. in Brussels, an idea floated by London to speed up the pace of the negotiations.

The U.K. is keen to move on from talking about separation issues to the shape of its future relationship with the bloc. But the EU will only do so once the European Council deems that “sufficient progress” has been made on divorce terms — an issue leaders said they will consider at their summit in October.

In rejecting the idea of nonstop talks, Barnier said he needed to spend time between negotiating rounds briefing heads of state and government, ambassadors from the EU27, members of the European Parliament and other leaders in Brussels. But he was also clearly intent on denying U.K. negotiators any advantage from having just one master, Prime Minister Theresa May — a fact that theoretically, at least, allows British negotiators to be far more nimble than their EU counterparts.

“We cannot negotiate every day, otherwise we will not do serious work,” Barnier told reporters in Brussels, although he said he was willing to step up the current format of one week of formal talks per month.

“As time is flying, and it worries me, I am ready to boost, to intensify the rhythm of the talks, obviously,” he said, adding: “We are ready to adapt timetables.”

In explaining his resistance to the U.K.’s idea of nonstop negotiations — a proposal first reported by POLITICO — Barnier stressed his role as negotiator on behalf of the full array of EU stakeholders.

“The unity of Europeans is solid and real and is being built continuously,” he said, adding. “I need a bit of time, before and after each round, to do this work of dialogue and consultation and to report.”

The U.K. has not publicly disclosed details of how it envisioned the “continuous” talks would be carried out, but one potential benefit for the U.K. would be to eliminate the ritual press conferences currently held at the start and end of each round. David Davis, the U.K.’s Brexit secretary, has made little secret of his dislike of those events.

Asked about Barnier’s resistance to nonstop talks, one U.K. government official played down the EU negotiator’s remarks, saying attempts to intensify the negotiations were still “a live issue.” No agreement has been reached between the two sides on a new format.

Another U.K. government official involved in Brexit said the option of “continuous talks” was never a formal British proposal, but one option discussed between two senior negotiators, and that the U.K. never expected it to be adopted.

Minutes released

In an example of the potentially awkward interactions between negotiators, the EU released the minutes of a College of Commissioners meeting on July 12 in which Barnier seemed to chide Davis for not remaining in Brussels during the week of formal talks, and pointing to that as a sign of the U.K. lack of engagement. 

“[Barnier] observed that the United Kingdom had not yet really engaged in the negotiations or spelled out its positions,” according to the minutes. “He noted in this regard that David Davis, the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, did not regard his direct involvement in these negotiations as his priority and there was also a possibility that he might not be present at the full opening session of the July cycle of talks.”

Davis also did not remain in Brussels for the third round of talks in August, attending an opening news conference and meeting on Monday afternoon and then returning late Wednesday to attend the closing meeting and news conference the following day.

At his news conference Thursday, Barnier was asked if not having Davis on hand throughout the formal talks was a problem. “We are meeting at the beginning to launch the round and we are drawing conclusions together. I do not participate in every meeting with my teams and the British teams,” he said, adding that they were being kept informed “every hour, every two hours” on the negotiations.

Barnier was also asked about reports that he was planning to run for Commission president in 2019 and this might give him added incentive to reach a deal with the U.K.

“I am entirely focused, 100 percent of my energy, on the mission Jean-Claude Juncker and European leaders gave to me — 100 percent of my time,” he said. “That’s all I am thinking about.”

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