The European Union's chief negotiator on Brexit talks says negotiations with the United Kingdom are stuck in a state of deadlock. The EU wants to know what divorce bill Britain is prepared to pay before talks go any further. British officials, on the other hand, want to begin trade talks now, before they commit billions.
This week Falklands MLA Jan Cheek and Falklands Representative in London Sukey Cameron have been accompanied at the Conservative Conference in Manchester by Assistant Representative Michael Betts, and law student and former Falklands PR Manager Krysteen Ormond.
The EU and Britain resumed Brexit talks on Monday with fresh clashes, dimming hopes that a speech by Prime Minister Theresa May could provide a breakthrough in unlocking stalled negotiations. The EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier insisted that he would not discuss May's call for a two-year post-exit transition deal until there was progress on key issues, including Britain's divorce bill.
Business leaders have voiced concern about the slow pace of Brexit negotiations, warning it could affect a constructive exit from the EU. BusinessEurope, an umbrella group representing business federations across Europe, said companies needed certainty and time to prepare for future arrangements.
Brexit Secretary David Davis has accused Labour of a “cynical political exercise” to undermine the “only viable plan” to deliver withdrawal from the European Union. His attack came as MPs clashed in the House of Commons over the Government’s flagship Brexit Bill, which Labour has denounced as an undemocratic “power grab” by ministers.
Britain's Labour will vote against the Brexit Repeal Bill because it will allow ministers to “grab power from Parliament” to slash rights at work and cut protection for consumers and the environment. The party’s statement came as Brexit Secretary David Davis was preparing to deliver a House of Commons statement on a summer of negotiations which the European Union claims has failed to deliver “decisive” progress.
Brexit Secretary David Davis is to update MPs on last week's negotiations with the European Union later. Davis will make a statement in the House of Commons about the progress of the third round of Brexit talks. It comes after the prime minister said the UK is ready to intensify talks rather than stick to its one-week-a-month schedule.
A row over the Brexit divorce bill has dominated the latest round of talks between the UK and the European Union, with both sides in the Brussels negotiations voicing their frustrations. Brexit Secretary David Davis said there had been a “tough” discussion over the fee Brussels wants the UK to pay to settle its obligations after British officials challenged the legal basis of the demand.
European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has delivered a fresh rebuke to Theresa May over her Government’s handling of the Brexit process. He said official papers setting out the UK Government’s positions were not satisfactory and it was “crystal clear” that an “enormous amount” of issues needed to be settled before talks on a future trade deal could begin
The UK has been told by the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator that it needs to take withdrawal talks “seriously”. Michel Barnier used the opening of a third round of talks in Brussels on Monday to insist that London must end “ambiguity” regarding key positions like the Brexit divorce bill.