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This is from the BBC’sAdam Fleming.
Fleming might be referring to this tweet from the Daily Mail’sDavid Churchill.
Michel Barnier, the EU’s chiefBrexitnegotiator, has finished addressing EU ministers at the general affairs council.
From Bloomberg’sNikos Chrysoloras
From the BBC’sAdam Fleming
From the broadcasterGeorg von Harrach
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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”.
Updated
These are from RTÉ’sTony Connelly.
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.
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.
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