Barnier worried on Brexit as British minister plays down showdown
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A senior British minister on Monday played down planned legislation that could override the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement, saying the goal posts were not being changed but that some ambiguities needed to be tidied up.
Asked about a report in the Financial Times, Environment Secretary George Eustice said there moght be some minor legal ambiguities that need to be tidied up over the Northern Irish protocol.
He said the UK was committed to the Northern Ireland protocol and that London was not moving the goal posts.
At the same time, the European Union’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said on Monday that Britain wanted “the best of two worlds” in the divorce deal, adding that negotiations were difficult. “I remain worried … the negotiations are difficult, because the British want the best of both worlds,” Barnier told on France Inter radio.
He added that he believed it was possible to find a deal on fisheries.
Britain’s reported plans to override parts of its Brexit divorce agreement with the EU would amount to “a desperate and ultimately self-defeating strategy”, a diplomat with the bloc said on Monday.
Talks on a new relationship from 2021 between the estranged allies plunged into a fresh crisis on Monday after Britain warned the European Union that it could effectively override the divorce deal it signed earlier unless the bloc agrees to a free trade deal by Oct. 15.
“‘Pacta sunt servanda’ meaning ‘agreements must be kept’ is a fundamental principle in international law. If the UK chose not to respect its international obligations, it would undermine its international standing,” said an EU diplomat.
“Who would want to agree trade deals with a country that doesn’t implement international treaties? It would be a desperate and ultimately self-defeating strategy.”
Another EU diplomat, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, echoed that in referring to Britain’s divorce deal with the bloc last year:
“Without correct implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement, I cannot imagine the EU would conclude a treaty with a country that does not abide by its treaty commitments.”
