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Brexit: Barnier says deal will be difficult but still possible this week – live news – The Guardian, Theguardian.com

Brexit: Barnier says deal will be difficult but still possible this week – live news – The Guardian, Theguardian.com


********05: 30

This is from the BBC’sAdam Fleming.

Adam Fleming(@ adamfleming)

There was a meeting between@SteveBarclayand@ MichelBarnierin Luxembourg this morning. MB is now in the canteen with his team being inspected from a distance by journalists like an exotic animal or Madonna on a low-cost airline flight.

October 15, 2019

Fleming might be referring to this tweet from the Daily Mail’sDavid Churchill.

David Churchill(@ David_Churchill)

EU’s chief negotiator@ MichelBarnier‘s team having a brainstorming session in Luxembourg after briefing the eu 27 on latest in# brexitnegotiations. Looks tensepic.twitter.com/HZBQQ8uXFz

October 15, 2019

Michel Barnier, the EU’s chiefBrexitnegotiator, has finished addressing EU ministers at the general affairs council.

From Bloomberg’sNikos Chrysoloras

Nikos Chrysoloras(@ nchrysoloras)

Barnier has told EU ministers that there is a chance the two sides could have a consolidated legal text ready by Thursday’s summit, according to two officials present at the GAC meeting. But he cautioned this could still go either way …https://t.co/SlLSWNFMCyvia@ bpolitics

October 15, 2019

From the BBC’sAdam Fleming

Adam Fleming(@ adamfleming)

EU 27 ministers were told by@ MichelBarnierthat a# Brexitdeal is possible at this week’s summit but the UK and EU would have to reach an agreement by TONIGHT at the latest.

October 15, 2019

From the broadcasterGeorg von Harrach

Georg von Harrach(@ georgvh)

Meeting of EU 27 Europe ministers with@ MichelBarnierhas just finished. Lasted 90 mins. Same length as UK govt meeting with DUP last night.# brexit

October 15, 2019

Updated

And this is whatGeorge Ciamba, the RomanianEuropeminister, said about Brexit as he arrived at the general affairs council meeting.

Of course we cannot jeopardise the single market. It is very important that any kind of solution should be realistic, practical and at the same time we could not jeopardise the principles of the single market.

Amélie de Montchalin, France’sEuropeminister, told reporters as she arrived at the EU general affairs council meeting that France would consider a Brexit extension, but that just allowing more time would not provide a solution. This is from France 24 ‘sStuart Norval.

Stuart Norval(@ StuartNorval)

BREAKING 🇬🇧🇫🇷 France says it still seeks a Brexit deal, but not at any price. Sec of State for European Affairs Amelie de Montchalin says France is prepared to discuss extension, but more time will not itself resolve the issues.# Brexit@ AdeMontchalin

(October) , 2019

Amélie de Montchalin.
Amélie de Montchalin. Photograph: EU

Updated (at 5. 20 am EDT

Here is longer version of what the German (Europe) ministerMichael Rothsaid when he arrived at the EU general affairs council. Asked if he thought a deal was close, he replied:

I’m not quite sure if a deal is close. But we are trying to do our utmost best to find such a good deal because a hardBrexitwould be a disaster, not just for the UK but for the EU 27 … We are extremely flexible. The integrity of the single market is key. The Good Friday agreement is key for us. And I hope that our friends in London understand our clear messages.

Asked if he was optimistic, he said he was always an optimist.

Michael Roth
Michael Roth Photograph: EU

Barclay says Brexit deal ‘still very possible’

Stephen Barclay, theBrexitsecretary, is attending the EU general affairs council in Luxembourg. As he arrived he said:

The talks are ongoing. We need to give them space to proceed.

But detailed conversations are under way and a deal is still very possible.

Stephen Barclay arriving at the general affairs council
Stephen Barclay arriving at the general affairs council Photograph: Julien Warnand / EPA

The Dutch foreign affairs minister,Stef Blok,gave a relatively downbeat assessment of the prospects of aBrexitdeal when he arrived for the EU general affairs council meeting in Luxembourg earlier. Asked what had to happen for there to be a deal this week, he replied:

The UK proposal contained some steps forward, but not enough to guarantee that the internal market will be protected. Of course consumers, companies in the Netherlands, have to be assured that there will not be byways through the Northern Irish border for products out of the (European Union) . It is up to the UK to confirm … that the integrity of the single market will be protected.

Georg von Harrach(@ georgvh)

Dutch Foreign Minister@ ministerBlokvoices EU central concern with the UK proposals: That suspect goods from elsewhere in the world could get into the EU Single Market through Northern Ireland.# brexit# GACpic. twitter.com/9LHKB54 GPK

(October) , 2019

Updated

Macron ally warns against ‘rush to deal in any circumstance’

Nathalie Loiseau,the French formerEuropeminister in President Macron’s government who now sits as an MEP, told the Today program that it was important to get the legal details of any new UK- EU plan for Northern Ireland properly sorted out. Asked if she could see a scenario in which the broad outline of an agreement was reached, with legal texts coming later, she replied:

An agreement can only be detailed, credible, sustainable. And we have to have clarity on every single aspect.

She also said any agreement “has to be able to last”. The backstop plan agreed with Theresa May took “two years of hard work and goodwill” to negotiate, she said. She went on:

You don’t replace it in one minute. This is a very serious issue. It has consequences on lives of many people on both sides of the Channel.

So goodwill, yes, but to rush to a deal in any circumstance, certainly not.

Nathalie Loiseau
Nathalie Loiseau. Photograph: Julien Mattia / Le Pictorium

Updated

Zac Goldsmith, the environment minister and an enthusiastic Brexiter (unlike Jeremy Hunt, who voted remain in 2016), took a different view when he was interviewed on Today this morning. He said he did not think aBrexitdelay would be necessary. He said:

I don’t think an extension is necessary. If both sides wish to secure a deal, a deal can be secured. It’s a matter of political will. Where there’s a will there is a way, and that has never been more true than in the case of Brexit.

BBC Radio 4 Today(@ BBCr4today)

Government Minister@ ZacGoldsmithinsists a Brexit delay is not necessary: ​​”Where there’s a will there’s a way … I don’t think it serves our interests as a country to be in a permanent state of division and paralysis “# r4todayhttps://t.co/4hS 30 GOiCtpic.twitter.com/Oq5Xmc3WiI

(October) , 2019

Hunt talks up case for Brexit extension, saying passing legislation needed before 31 October would be ‘very difficult’

Simon Murphy

Jeremy Hunthas said it will be “very difficult” to get aBrexitdeal through without an extension. The former foreign secretary, who was Boris Johnson’s main rival in the Tory leadership contest in the summer, told the Today program:

I think it’s going to be very difficult to get a deal, with all the legislation, through parliament by October 31 which is why I didn’t want to offer that guarantee during the leadership campaign in the summer.

But I still hope it happens. And I still think, for the first time, if there is a deal and, frankly if we needed an extension of a few days I think people would just feel the end is in sight and that’s the important thing.

Asked whether there would be a deal by the end of the month and if it would get through parliament, Hunt said:

I think one of the mistakes that we made is to think that the difficulty in getting a deal is about malevolence from the EU, when actually there is a certain bureaucratic inertia in the way the EU operates.

Because it is, frankly, a nightmare to get 27, 28 countries to agree on anything. So I’ve always thought that there just won’t be a way to overcome that inertia unless Ireland decides they want a deal.

And if Ireland is hanging out and saying: ‘We can’t leave with what’s on the table’, then I think the rest of the EU countries will follow suit.

I think what’s encouraging about the last week is that the Irish seem to have changed their calculations and worked out that if they had to face Boris Johnson with a majority in parliament after a general election that might be someone who is actually harder to deal with than theBoris Johnsonthey have now.

Jeremy Hunt
Jeremy Hunt. Photograph: AP

Updated

UK would have to request extension before EU could agree one, Finnish Europe minister says

Tytti Tuppurainen,Finland’sEuropeminister, told reporters as she arrived at the EU general affairs council that the EU was preparing for “all possible scenarios”:

Hopefully we will have a deal, but we have also to prepare ourselves for a no deal, and also have to be ready to consider another extension. So all the options are open, and today we are going to hear the latest news fromMichel Barnier.

Finland holds the rotating presidency of the EU, and yesterday the Finnish prime minister,Antti Rinne, said it was too late to reach an agreement onBrexitbefore the EU summit starting on Thursday. “I think there is no time in a practical or legal way to find an agreement before the EU council meeting.”

Asked if she agreed with her boss, Tuppurainen did not say no, but she did not back up his assessment either.

I know there have been intensive talks between the United Kingdom and our chief negotiator, Michel Barnier. Today he will update us on where we are going. We have to use every minute that we have in order to avoid the no-deal situation that would be very harmful to us all.

Asked if EU ministers would discuss extending article 50 (ie, extending Brexit) today, Tuppurainen said not “as such” and that this would be a matter for leaders to discuss at the summit. But she also stressed that the UK would have to request an extension:

Later this week, [at] the European summit, the leaders will probably assess a possible extension. But it has to be a request from the government of the United Kingdom, of course.

Tytti Tuppurainen
Tytti Tuppurainen. Photograph: EU

Updated

Michael Roth, Germany’sEuropeminister, told reporters he was “not quite sure” whether a Brexit deal was close, as he arrived for the EU general affairs council meeting in Luxembourg. But he also said a no-deal Brexit would be a “disaster”.

Michael Roth
Michael Roth. Photograph: EU

Updated

These are from RTÉ’sTony Connelly.

Tony Connelly(@ tconnellyRTE)

Breaking: the UK will table fresh proposals to break the Brexit deadlock this morning,@ rtenewsunderstands

(October) , 2019

Tony Connelly(@ tconnellyRTE)

2 / Two well-placed sources have confirmed that UK negotiators will bring forward a new text when they meet European Commission negotiators in Brussels this morning

(October) , 2019

Tony Connelly(@ tconnellyRTE)

3 / It follows a 90 minute meeting betweenBoris Johnsonand DUP leader Arlene Foster, and deputy leader Nigel Dodds in Downing Street last night

(October) , 2019

Tony Connelly(@ tconnellyRTE)

4 / It’s not clear yet if the proposals are a revised version of the dual customs scheme which the UK proposed following the breakthrough meeting between Leo Varadkar and Boris Johnson last week in Cheshire, or whether they are something much different

(October) , 2019

Tony Connelly(@ tconnellyRTE)

5 / The development follows a downbeat assessment by the EU’s chief negotiator on Sunday over the dual customs idea, which would see NI stay in the UK’s customs territory, but operate the EU’s rules and procedures on tariffs

(October) , 2019

Tony Connelly(@ tconnellyRTE)

6 / EU sources have said the original NI-only backstop is a much clearer and legally watertight way to resolve the problem of avoiding a customs border on the island of Ireland.

(October) , 2019

Tony Connelly(@ tconnellyRTE)

7 / However, the UK and DUP have long rejected the original backstop as the way forward.

(October) , 2019

When Michel Barnier spoke to journalists this morning, he stressed the need for the UK to provide “legal text”. (See 8. 46 am.)

But British sources have been playing down the significance of the next text. Reuters have just sent out this.

Brexit talks between the United Kingdom and theEuropean Unioncontinued until late on Monday and will begin again on Tuesday morning but that is routine and nothing to get excited about, a British source close to the negotiations said.

“Talks took place until 11 pm last night and are due to begin again this morning, ”the source said.

“As part of the talks process, there is of course back and forth and new texts have been shared by both sides repeatedly – that’s what a negotiation is,” the source said. “This is routine, nothing to get excited about.”

Updated (at 4.) *********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** (am EDT)

Barnier says deal will be ‘difficult’ but is ‘still possible this week’

EU ministers in Luxembourg have just started a meeting of the general affairs council, the body that prepares the groundwork for the EU summit starting on Thursday.

EU Arauzo(@ EU_Arauzo)

General Affairs Council (Article 50) on# Brexithas started.@ MichelBarnieris now informing the ministers of the state of play ahead of# EUCOpic.twitter.com/RhoNHuZZPZ

(October) , 2019

Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, is briefing them on the progress in theBrexittalks. Speaking to reporters as he arrived, he gave a balanced assessment, saying an agreement was “difficult” but “still possible this week”. He said:

Our team are working hard … This work has been intense all over the weekend and yesterday because, even if the agreement will be difficult – more and more difficult, to be frank – it is still possible this week …

Reaching an agreement is still possible. Obviously any agreement must work for everyone, the whole of the United Kingdom and the whole of theEuropean Union.

Let me add also that it is high time to turn good intentions into a legal text.

Here is the agenda for the day.

(9.) am : The Commons Brexit committee takes evidence from Northern Ireland.

(9.) am:Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, gives evidence to the Commons Treasury committee.

10 am:Officials from the Jo Cox Foundation give evidence to the Commons home affairs committee on hate crime.

(After) . 30 am:The Queen’s speech debate resumes in the Commons, focusing on foreign affairs.

3pm:Andrea Leadsom, the business secretary, gives evidence to the Commons business committee.

3. 15 PM :Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s first minister, gives her keynote speech at the end of the Scottish National party conference in Aberdeen.

5. 10 PM:Press conference at end of EU general affairs council.

As usual, I will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web, although mostly I will be focusing on Brexit. I plan to publish a summary when I wrap up.

You can read all the latest Guardian politics articleshere. Here isthe Politico Europe roundup of this morning’s political news.And here is the (PoliticsHome list of today’s top) must-re ads.

If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on@ AndrewSparrow.

I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct questio n, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone.

If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter.

Updated

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