Will they finally get into the hard?
After the temperature rises and exchanges of courtesies of the last few days, Brussels and London tried Monday to restart the negotiations.
Time is running out since the transition period ends on December 31, in ten weeks therefore.
In the morning, the joint committee responsible for the proper implementation of the divorce agreement, headed by Commission Vice-President Maros Sefcovic and British Minister Michael Gove, met in London.
The opportunity for Europeans to once again warn London about respecting the Irish protocol.
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In the afternoon, Michel Barnier and David Frost, in charge of negotiating future relations, tried to see how to organize the continuation of the discussions while the two parties are still blocking on three subjects: the rules of fair competition, fishing and governance of the agreement.
No major advances.
Brussels and London continue to gauge and test each other.
And, as always, the British are not the last to play this game.
Michael Gove again criticized the Europeans on Monday for not having met the deadline of October 15 when it is now officially a question of giving themselves until the end of October and until mid-November unofficially.
“
There is no sense in continuing to negotiate.
As long as the EU maintains its position, such discussions will not make sense,
”he said.
So much for the still very tonic form.
Basically, however, there was the will to get off on the right foot.
Michel Barnier said that "the
EU remains available to intensify discussions in London this week, on all subjects and on the basis of legal texts
".
"Commedia dell 'arte"
The chief negotiator and his teams have always considered that it was pointless to move forward on legal texts if there was no substantive agreement on the key points.
But, it was, for a long time, a request of London.
And Gove saw Monday a small victory vis-à-vis Brussels.
“
Obviously, we have to make sure that we work on the basis of the intensification that they are proposing,
” he said, changing gait.
"
I'd rather look to the future with optimism than look back with anger,
" he added.
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On the European side, we are much less optimistic.
"
This history of legal texts is the commedia dell'arte,
" sighs a European source.
If London and Brussels now say they are ready to resume discussions, it remains to be seen when this will be possible.
The differences remain.
Monday evening, no appointment was scheduled.
Michel Barnier and David Frost could talk to each other again on Tuesday.