Michel Barnier's Statement at the End of the Fourth Round of Negotiations

Michel Barnier
By Foto-AG Gymnasium Melle,
CC BY-SA 3.0,

Jane Lambert

As I said in my May Brexit Briefing, a fourth round of talks between British and Commission negotiators was scheduled for the 2 to 5 June 2020.  They have now taken place and a statement has been made on their progress by Michel Barnier (see Statement by Michel Barnier following Round 4 of negotiations for a new partnership between the European Union and the United Kingdom 5 June 2020).

On its face, it does not make very encouraging reading.  Monsieur Barnier said that there were four big sticking points, namely:

• "Fisheries, and free and fair competition, the so-called ‘level playing field' – two essential elements of the new economic partnership we want to build;

• Guarantees protecting people's fundamental rights and freedoms needed to underpin a close police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters;

• And finally, the governance of our future relationship."

On none of those issues, according to Monsieur Barnier, has there been any significant progress.  He complains that the British wish to renegotiate the Political Declaration setting out the framework for the future relationship between the European Union and the theUnited Kingdom which the Prime Minister signed and expressed concerns as to the implementation of the Northern Ireland Protocol to the Withdrawal Agreement.

There has been no parallel statement from the British side.  As I said in my comments on the British counterproposals and Brexit Briefing a lot more work has been done on the British side than might be expected for mere window dressing. Nevertheless, Andrew Bailey, the Governor of the Bank of England has warned business leaders to prepare for the present transition or implementation period to expire without an agreement (see Ryan Weeks Bank of England governor tells banks to brace for no-deal Brexit – report 3 June 2020 Financial News).

I have added Monsieur Barnier's speech and my comments to my EU negotiations page. I am also monitoring the UK's negotiations for free trade agreements with the USA and Japan.  Despite the deteriorating relationship with China over Huawei, Hong Kong and responsibility for the pandemic I am minded to monitor China's Belt, Road Initiative ("BRI").  The BRI is a massive infrastructure project over the next 30 years for which British businesses and their professional advisors are well placed to win contracts.  I am under no illusions as to the nature of the present Chinese leadership but while countries' interests remain constant governments and policies can and do change.

Anyone wishing to discuss this article or any of its topics should call my clerk Stephen Somerville on 07986 948267 or send me a message through my contact page.

Implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement - Joint Committee's First Meeting

Rt Hon Michael Gove MP

Author Chris McAndrew

Licence: Attribution 3.0 Unported
Source Wikipedia Michael Gove 

Jane Lambert

In EU's Draft Agreement on a New Partnership with the UK 29 March 2020, I wrote:

"Art 164 (1) of [the witdrawal] agreement established a Joint Committee comprising representatives of the EU and UK which shall be responsible for the implementation and application of the agreement. Following telephone discussions between the Vice-President of the Commission and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster. a meeting is scheduled for tomorrow. Top of the agenda will be citizens' rights and the Northern Irish protocol."

A meeting did take place on 30 March 2020 by teleconference and the Cabinet Office and Michael Gove MP have published a Readout from the first meeting of the Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee.

Citizens' rights and Northern Ireland were both discussed and the British government gave the following assurance::

"The UK reiterated our commitment to protecting the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement in all respects, and to upholding our obligations under the Northern Ireland Protocol. The UK emphasised our commitment to EU citizens in the UK and ensuring that UK nationals in the EU have their rights protected consistent with the Withdrawal Agreement."

Because compliance with the existing withdrawal agreement is likely to be crucial to the prospects of success of the new partnership negotiations, the role of the Joint Committee is important. That may well be the reason yesterday for the publication by the Cabinet Office of a Withdrawal Agreement Joint Committee - Fact Sheet at a time when the attention of governments everywhere is focused on other things.

Anyone wishing to discuss this article or the new relationship negotiations generally (and in particular their impact on innovation) should message me through my contact form. If you want a discussion by phone or VoIP I shall be glad to call you back.