The dispute over Brexit continues: MEPs threaten to break off negotiations

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Boris Johnson

Photo: SIMON DAWSON / REUTERS

Michel Barnier does not leave for London until later that Tuesday.

When the new round of negotiations for the Brexit talks begins in the British capital in the afternoon, the EU chief negotiator will still have meetings in Brussels, including in the European Parliament.

Barnier's schedule shows that the EU wants to coordinate particularly well before this round of Brexit negotiations.

No wonder, because the tensions between the EU and the British government are particularly high this time. 

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EU chief negotiator Barnier

Photo: Yves Herman / DPA

The reason for this is not so much Boris Johnson's threats to break off the talks if necessary if there is no result by October 15.

A Brexit ultimatum from the British prime minister?

What the hell.

In Brussels they just shrug their shoulders.

Such threatening gestures are part of the business, at least in these negotiations with this partner.

In addition, they have also noticed in the EU capital that Johnson’s star is falling, among other things because of the poor management of the corona crisis at home.

Brussels bashing is always a tried and tested method. 

In addition, the EU side basically shares his assessment: if there is no first, reliable text of an agreement by the EU summit in mid-October, things will be tight.

Finally, the European Parliament also has to approve the treaty by the end of the year.

The deadline ends on December 31, during which all EU rules will continue to apply in the United Kingdom, even after the legal Brexit on January 31, 2020.  

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Premier Johnson

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Daniel LEAL-OLIVAS / AFP

What is causing great and persistent displeasure in Brussels, however, are reports that the British want to pass a law ("Internal Market Bill") on Wednesday, as a result of which parts of the exit agreement that the EU concluded with the British last year, could override.

It is still unclear whether and when the project, which the Financial Times initially reported, will become law.

However, the British government itself confirms necessary adjustments in terms of Northern Ireland.

This approach would confirm the worst fears with which the EU side has accompanied Boris Johnson from his first day in office.

Clear answer from the EU

If he were to actually say goodbye to parts of the exit agreement that he negotiated, the British prime minister would further undermine the already extremely tough negotiations on the future free trade agreement.

He might even end it. 

The EU's answer is correspondingly clear.

On Monday, chief negotiator Barnier first reported on French radio.

"Everything that has been signed must be respected," he told France Inter.

The group leader of the Left in the European Parliament, Martin Schirdewan, formulates it more sharply.

If Johnson unilaterally changes essential parts of the exit agreement, "the basic requirement for the future agreement would no longer exist," he told SPIEGEL: "The EU should then break off talks with Johnson and Co. until he has come to his senses again."

Support for the demand comes from the Social Democrats.

"If that comes on Wednesday's agenda, I think we have to break off the negotiations on the trade agreement," said the head of the trade committee in the European Parliament, Bernd Lange: "It's about the foundations of partnership and contractual loyalty."           

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Both MEPs are no extras in the Brexit drama, which gives their threat credibility.

Schirdewan sits in the Brexit group, in which Barnier regularly informs the European Parliament about the negotiations.

As head of the trade committee, Lange, on the other hand, is at a crucial point in the negotiations on a possible future free trade agreement.

Ursula von der Leyen also apparently takes the reports seriously.

The head of the commission warned the British on Monday via Twitter to stick to the agreements. 

Martin Schirdewan

Photo: Oliver Berg / dpa

According to British newspaper reports, Johnson could break two core agreements with the EU on Northern Ireland with a new law.

It concerns state aid for companies in Northern Ireland and requirements for Northern Irish companies when transporting goods to the UK.

The exact wording of the law is not yet known in Brussels.

Among other things, London had promised in the exit agreement that there would be no hard border between the EU member Ireland and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom.

The background to this is the concern that sectarian clashes could flare up again in Northern Ireland. 

In Brussels one hopes that the British will refrain from the proposed law after all, after all, the negotiations are tough enough as it is.

The "tiger in the tank", which Johnson demanded for talks with the EU leaders in mid-June, was not seen over the summer.

On the contrary: basically little has changed since the talks about future relationships began.

The British insist on full sovereignty, the EU defends its internal market.

The conflict is also behind the two most important topics of the upcoming talks: the debate on future fishing rights and the question of the so-called level playing field. 

The British want to say goodbye to the previous EU fisheries policy and prefer to renegotiate the fishing quotas for fishermen from the EU every year for each variety.

The EU rejects that.   

Much more important is the question of the level playing field.

The EU only wants to give the British the widest possible access to their internal market if it is ensured that their future rules on environmental protection, labor and social standards and state aid continue to largely correspond to those of the EU.

The British think, roughly speaking, that Brexit would make no sense if they remained bound by EU rules in the future. 

We can confidently rule out that there will be a breakthrough this week.

But time is of the essence.

Even if no one wants to bypass chief negotiator Barnier openly, it is clear that the hour for Commission chief von der Leyen and Chancellor Angela Merkel should strike.  

At the end of the exit agreement, Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the commission at the time, had also joined the talks.

And Germany currently holds the rotating EU Council Presidency.

It is precisely at this level that Johnson wants to raise the talks again - with the heads of state and government.

On Monday evening he spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron, among other things about the course of the Brexit negotiations. 

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