EU's Barnier makes last ditch Brexit offer, Britain 'not impressed'

[rooster59]

EU's Barnier makes last ditch Brexit offer, Britain 'not impressed'

By Gabriela Baczynska

 

EU Chief Brexit Negotiator Michel Barnier attends a joint news conference with Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz in Vienna, Austria February 28, 2019. REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger

 

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union can give Britain the unilateral right to leave their customs union after Brexit, chief negotiator Michel Barnier said on Friday in a bid to push their divorce deal over the line in the divided British parliament.

 

But a source in Prime Minister Theresa May's government said it was "not impressed" by Barnier's gesture. And the Northern Irish party that props up Britain's minority government dismissed Barnier's move as a "non-starter", Sky News reported.

 

Barnier's basic idea would keep Northern Ireland in the EU's trade orbit, something already rejected previously by London in the hard-fought Brexit negotiations as weakening the province's ties to the rest of the United Kingdom.

 

"The UK will not be forced into a customs union against its will," Barnier said. "The EU will continue working intensively over the coming days to ensure that the UK leaves the EU with an agreement." Britain aims to depart the bloc on March 29.

 

Barnier stressed that Britain would still need to keep the sensitive border between EU member state Ireland and the UK province of Northern Ireland free of controls, meaning any checks would need to carried out in the Irish Sea.

 

Sky News Northern Ireland correspondent David Blevins quoted Democratic Unionist Party sources as saying the Barnier proposal showed "no respect to the constitutional and economic integrity of the United Kingdom. It's a non-starter."

 

Brexit negotiations will stretch into the weekend, with British Prime Minister Theresa May calling on the EU on Friday for a final push to break the stalemate.

 

Just three weeks before Britain is due to leave, a deeply split UK parliament has yet to ratify May's deal with Brussels last year on withdrawal terms and a separate declaration on the outlook for future trade relations.

 

BACKSTOP

 

At the heart of parliamentary resistance to the divorce deal is the so-called "backstop", a provision to keep the Irish border open in keeping with the 1998 Good Friday peace accord that ended sectarian conflict on the island of Ireland.

 

The eurosceptic wing of May's Conservative party fears the backstop could trap the UK in the EU's trading rules forever.

 

"EU commits to give UK the option to exit the Single Customs Territory unilaterally, while the other elements of the backstop must be maintained to avoid a hard border," Barnier said after briefing ambassadors of the 27 EU states that are staying on together after Brexit.

 

As Brexit goes down to the wire, fears on both sides of the Channel are growing about the economic damage in the event that Britain leaves the EU abruptly without any transition agreement to soften the resulting disruption to trade.

 

While Barnier's latest proposal would make legally binding commitments of the assurances on the backstop that the EU had already offered in January, it is unlikely to be seen as enough by many of the hardline eurosceptics in the Conservative party.

 

Barnier said the bloc was ready to legally commit to using its "best endeavours" in trade negotiations with Britain after Brexit to find a solution that made sure the Irish border stayed open and the contentious backstop was never applied.

 

Britain's stalled withdrawal treaty includes dispute-settling mechanisms under which London could leave parts of the backstop should the EU fail to show enough good faith in talks on a new trade deal that would keep the Irish frontier open.

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-03-09

[Samui Bodoh]

"...As Brexit goes down to the wire, fears on both sides of the Channel are growing about the economic damage in the event that Britain leaves the EU abruptly without any transition agreement to soften the resulting disruption to trade..."

 

Leaving the EU without a transition plan in place is the epitome of 'cutting off your nose to spite your face'.

 

The UK is divided. The Parliament is divided. The parties are divided. Business is divided. Labour is divided. Civil Society is divided. Academia is divided. The countries that make up the UK are divided. Families are divided.

 

i understand the Leavers desire to exit the EU, and I respect the referendum that was held. However, if a country tries to implement the most controversial public policy decision of the last 60+ years without some kind of consensus in the nation, terrible things will happen.

 

I have said it before and will say it again;

 

Never before have I seen a country so utterly determined to shoot itself in the crotch

 

 

 

Edited March 8, 2019 by Samui Bodoh

[Topdoc]

This is MB's fault. He is the negotiator and he has presented a deal that the UK cannot accept.
Keep in mind none of these EU 'officials' can be voted out of office.

[Chomper Higgot]

29 minutes ago, Topdoc said:

This is MB's fault. He is the negotiator and he has presented a deal that the UK cannot accept.
Keep in mind none of these EU 'officials' can be voted out of office.

Because of course it couldn’t possibly be the fault of Brexiteers.

 

It’s always somebody else’s fault.

 

Brexiteers, failed to plan, planned to fail.

 

 

Edited March 9, 2019 by Chomper Higgot

[damascase]

32 minutes ago, Topdoc said:

This is MB's fault. He is the negotiator and he has presented a deal that the UK cannot accept.
Keep in mind none of these EU 'officials' can be voted out of office.

Oh yeah, put the blame on Barnier, that will help. No shame? 

And about voting: he is not a politician, but the equivalent of a Civil Servant. How many of them can you vote out?

[vogie]

16 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Because of course it couldn’t possibly be the fault of Brexiteers.

 

It’s always somebody else’s fault.

 

Brexiteers, failed to plan, planned to fail.

 

 

The UK are trying to find a solution, Barnier is the only person that can keep the process on track. So simply by saying "it's always somebody elses fault" you could have been more specific and said 'it's Barniers fault.' ????

 

 

[sammieuk1]

We are all in the ditch looking for Boris and the bus????

[Chomper Higgot]

6 minutes ago, vogie said:

The UK are trying to find a solution, Barnier is the only person that can keep the process on track. So simply by saying "it's always somebody elses fault" you could have been more specific and said 'it's Barniers fault.' ????

 

 

Hang on a minute, I thought it was Remainers in the UK government that were failing to deliver your unplanned Brexit.

 

It’s difficult these days to keep up with who it is Brexiteers blame.

 

 

Fail to plan, plan to fail.

[vogie]

49 minutes ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Hang on a minute, I thought it was Remainers in the UK government that were failing to deliver your unplanned Brexit.

 

It’s difficult these days to keep up with who it is Brexiteers blame.

 

 

Fail to plan, plan to fail.

It is no good having a plan if Barnier doesn't show any interest in it and his sole objective is to make it as difficult as possible for the UK to leave. But you are correct, the remainers in government have certainly not helped, but ultimately the buck stops at Barniers door, and nobody elses.

So all we can do now is.

Plan the derail, derail the plan.????

[Chomper Higgot]

13 minutes ago, vogie said:

It is no good having a plan if Barnier doesn't show any interest in it and his sole objective is to make it as difficult as possible for the UK to leave. But you are correct, the remainers in government have certainly not helped, but ultimately the buck stops at Barniers door, and nobody elses.

So all we can do now is.

Plan the derail, derail the plan.????

It seems you’ve forgotten the Brexiteer (planless) predictions that the EU would be begging the UK for a deal that suits the UK.

 

Cake!

——

 

It also seems I prompted you to remember who else you are supposed to be blaming.

 

Given your fluidity on who it is you blame I’ll hold on your proclamation of where ‘the buck stops’.

 

[shaurene]

3 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

"...As Brexit goes down to the wire, fears on both sides of the Channel are growing about the economic damage in the event that Britain leaves the EU abruptly without any transition agreement to soften the resulting disruption to trade..."

 

Leaving the EU without a transition plan in place is the epitome of 'cutting off your nose to spite your face'.

 

The UK is divided. The Parliament is divided. The parties are divided. Business is divided. Labour is divided. Civil Society is divided. Academia is divided. The countries that make up the UK are divided. Families are divided.

 

i understand the Leavers desire to exit the EU, and I respect the referendum that was held. However, if a country tries to implement the most controversial public policy decision of the last 60+ years without some kind of consensus in the nation, terrible things will happen.

 

I have said it before and will say it again;

 

Never before have I seen a country so utterly determined to shoot itself in the crotch

 

 

 

It is all down to the People wanting freedom from a dictatorship that the EU are. Remember the British Moto. Britons never never never will be slaves. We kicked the ass of all countries that tried.

[Loiner]

They are making it so easy for us to Leave No Deal. Next step on Tuesday will be to reject May's surrender, then no extension to Article 50, and we're almost there.

[rixalex]

4 hours ago, Samui Bodoh said:

i understand the Leavers desire to exit the EU, and I respect the referendum that was held. However, if a country tries to implement the most controversial public policy decision of the last 60+ years without some kind of consensus in the nation, terrible things will happen.

 

There will never be a consensus. That's not a reason for not implementing a democratic decision. General elections never result in a consensus, but the result still get delivered - well they do in functioning democracies.

 

For democracy to work it relies on the losers accepting the decision. In this case the losers, which account for more than 80% of parliament, haven't. That's why things are in a mess. If the losers had won 52/48, the result would have been delivered a long time ago. Terrible things will happen if they are allowed to get away with this. This isn't democracy.

[SheungWan]

1 hour ago, shaurene said:

It is all down to the People wanting freedom from a dictatorship that the EU are. Remember the British Moto. Britons never never never will be slaves. We kicked the ass of all countries that tried.

British Moto? UK making smartphones now?

[SheungWan]

1 hour ago, Loiner said:

They are making it so easy for us to Leave No Deal. Next step on Tuesday will be to reject May's surrender, then no extension to Article 50, and we're almost there.

Then this, then that.

[SheungWan]

Pretty obvious that the Brexiteers here both don't understand, nor want to understand the backstop. And then they will complain of having the 'stupid' label pinned on them.

Edited March 9, 2019 by SheungWan

[Baerboxer]

3 hours ago, Chomper Higgot said:

Because of course it couldn’t possibly be the fault of Brexiteers.

 

It’s always somebody else’s fault.

 

Brexiteers, failed to plan, planned to fail.

 

 

 

Interesting isn't it. The EU have been asking and asking what May's government want and asking them to put forward suggestions. Nothing. Barnier has a go at a suggestion and all the Brexiteers ridicule him.

 

It's like they know what they want but have no idea what that actually looks like in detail; and will ridicule all who try and help them see.

[Baerboxer]

2 minutes ago, SheungWan said:

Pretty obvious that the Brexiteers here both don't understand, nor want to understand the backstop. And then they will complain of having the 'stupid' label pinned on them.

 

Ignorant, stubborn, stupid - there are plenty of adjectives for this sort of attitude.

 

They won the referendum - and that's all they care about. They actually have no idea what it all means, nor do they want to understand it.

[SheungWan]

18 minutes ago, rixalex said:

There will never be a consensus. That's not a reason for not implementing a democratic decision. General elections never result in a consensus, but the result still get delivered - well they do in functioning democracies.

For democracy to work it relies on the losers accepting the decision. In this case the losers, which account for more than 80% of parliament, haven't. That's why things are in a mess. If the losers had won 52/48, the result would have been delivered a long time ago. Terrible things will happen if they are allowed to get away with this. This isn't democracy.

Notice the vague threats from the Hard Brexiteers if things don't go their way?

[SheungWan]

5 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

Interesting isn't it. The EU have been asking and asking what May's government want and asking them to put forward suggestions. Nothing. Barnier has a go at a suggestion and all the Brexiteers ridicule him.

It's like they know what they want but have no idea what that actually looks like in detail; and will ridicule all who try and help them see.

The Emperor has no clothes but they are fine to see.

[Moonlover]

12 minutes ago, Baerboxer said:

 

Interesting isn't it. The EU have been asking and asking what May's government want and asking them to put forward suggestions. Nothing. Barnier has a go at a suggestion and all the Brexiteers ridicule him.

 

It's like they know what they want but have no idea what that actually looks like in detail; and will ridicule all who try and help them see.

I think that the real issue here is that it's not what the government wants of itself, rather it wants something to pacify parliament.

 

Big problem there. Because a large majority of MPs voted for remain in the 2016 referendum. (over 400) So it's difficult to see what could possibly pacify  them. They quite simply don't want Brexit to happen at all. And in the end, I think they might win.

 

And Remainers (including me) can all thank Gina Miller for that. Remember her?

[Baerboxer]

1 hour ago, shaurene said:

It is all down to the People wanting freedom from a dictatorship that the EU are. Remember the British Moto. Britons never never never will be slaves. We kicked the ass of all countries that tried.

 

The EU "is" not "are". It is a single entity. But a far from undemocratic one.

 

Are you familiar with how the EU actually works?

 

 

[Nigel Garvie]

2 hours ago, vogie said:

It is no good having a plan if Barnier doesn't show any interest in it and his sole objective is to make it as difficult as possible for the UK to leave. But you are correct, the remainers in government have certainly not helped, but ultimately the buck stops at Barniers door, and nobody elses.

So all we can do now is.

Plan the derail, derail the plan.????

I hope that these Brexit Specs will help you identify who is to blame, obviously it couldn't possibly be Leavers. Buy them from Rees Mogg & co (Based in Dublin).

[welovesundaysatspace]

 

4 hours ago, Topdoc said:

This is MB's fault. He is the negotiator and he has presented a deal that the UK cannot accept.

 

Keep in mind none of these EU 'officials' can be voted out of office.

No, Barnier is not the UK’s negotiator and his job is not to get the UK a deal. 

 

And keep in mind he’s probably doing a much better job at that than all those people that you can vote out of office. ????  

 

 

[damascase]

1 hour ago, Loiner said:

They are making it so easy for us to Leave No Deal. Next step on Tuesday will be to reject May's surrender, then no extension to Article 50, and we're almost there.

Ready to jump. Have you planned the landing or will you do that on the way down?

[Baerboxer]

3 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

I think that the real issue here is that it's not what the government wants of itself, rather it wants something to pacify parliament.

 

Big problem there. Because a large majority of MPs voted for remain in the 2016 referendum. (over 400) So it's difficult to see what could possibly pacify  them. They quite simply don't want Brexit to happen at all. And in the end, I think they might win.

 

And Remainers (including me) can all thank Gina Miller for that. Remember her?

 

Nail, hammer, head, hit the!

 

Yes, several cases were lodged to challenge Treasonous Theresa's attempt to circumvent parliament and constitutional law by illegally using the Royal Prerogative. Gina Miller's was the one chosen to be heard. The Supreme Court rules May couldn't do as she fancied and all credit to Gina Miller for having the tenacity to challenge her.

 

If the MP's had some back bone those who know leaving is stupid, should have challenged and fought the implementation of Cameron's advisory referendum folly. That's how a representative democracy supposed to work. But the spineless self interested lot only care about themselves and their privileged careers.

 

I find it incredible that most Brexit supporters I know, when challenged, have little to know idea how the EU actually works and is governed. Ask them if they've always voted in MEP elections and to name their current MEP and they look at you all wide and glossy eyed and just repeat it's not democratic!

[welovesundaysatspace]

2 minutes ago, damascase said:

Ready to jump. Have you planned the landing or will you do that on the way down?

Oh, have you ever jumped of a cliff before or how would you want to know that we cannot just jump and land softly? I smell project fear. 

[Chomper Higgot]

10 minutes ago, SheungWan said:

Notice the vague threats from the Hard Brexiteers if things don't go their way?

Don’t be too concerned about ‘vague threats’ from Brexiteers, the trhreats share a root cause with the Brexiteer’s need to blame everyone else for Brexit and their own life’s failings.

 

Impotence.

[rixalex]

39 minutes ago, SheungWan said:

Notice the vague threats from the Hard Brexiteers if things don't go their way?

I'm not a hard brexiteer. I'm a democrat. And it's not a threat, it's a prediction. If politicians promise to do something and then don't do it, there can be a reaction from the public. Plenty of examples of that throughout history. A matter of fact, not opinion.

[rixalex]

27 minutes ago, Moonlover said:

Big problem there. Because a large majority of MPs voted for remain in the 2016 referendum. (over 400) So it's difficult to see what could possibly pacify  them. They quite simply don't want Brexit to happen at all. And in the end, I think they might win.

 

Yes i completely agree. They never wanted Brexit in the first place. They shouldn't have asked a question if they weren't prepared to accept the answer. That's what this all comes down to.