Stephen Barclay and Barnier meet for the first time in FOUR MONTHS
Remember me, Michel? Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay and EU negotiator Barnier meet for the first time in FOUR MONTHS amid clash over citizens’ rights
- The Brexit Secretary and the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator last met in March
- They held talks in Brussels this afternoon amid a clash over citizens’ rights
- The EU rejected an appeal from the UK to guarantee rights in No Deal Brexit
Stephen Barclay and Michel Barnier clashed over citizens’ rights today as they met face-to-face for the first time in four months.
The Brexit Secretary and the EU’s chief negotiator held a showdown in Brussels this afternoon – their first in-person encounter since March 5.
The pair were all smiles as they shook hands for the cameras before their talks.
However, a row over how best to protect the rights of citizens in the event the UK leaves the bloc without an agreement is thought to have dominated discussions after it emerged last month that Mr Barnier had rejected an appeal from the British government.
Correspondence published in the middle of June showed Mr Barclay urged Mr Barnier to agree to ‘ring-fence’ part of the Withdrawal Agreement which protects the rights of citizens.
Such a move would ensure the measures are implemented even if the UK leaves the bloc without an overall deal.
Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay (right) and the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier (left) held a showdown in Brussels this afternoon
Mr Barclay and the British team faced off against Mr Barnier and EU officials in Brussels today
But Mr Barnier poured cold water on the proposal as he told the UK it would be ‘far from straightforward’.
He also warned ministers not to be ‘distracted’ from the main goal of securing support for the divorce deal the EU agreed with Theresa May.
Mr Barclay had signalled he would use the meeting today to push Mr Barnier to reconsider his approach on the issue.
He was also expected to raise the Irish border backstop and outline any progress made by the UK on coming up with so-called ‘alternative arrangements’ which would avoid the need for the protocol to ever be implemented.
Mr Barnier’s initial rejection of the UK’s request on citizens’ rights prompted Mr Barclay to urge him to look again at the matter.
The British government fears Britons living in the EU could struggle to access healthcare in some member states if there is a No Deal Brexit on October 31.
Talks between the two sides have fallen away in recent months after the Withdrawal Agreement was rejected by MPs on three separate occasions and Westminster shifted its focus to the Tory leadership contest.
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman said today: ‘We have obviously given a guarantee of our own in relation to protecting the rights of the more than three million EU citizens who are living here and we have sought to encourage other EU member states to do the same with regard to British national living inside the EU.
‘Some have reciprocated, others have not and we would urge those who have not done so to do so now.’
In February MPs supported a proposal which required the government to seek a commitment from the EU to implement the citizens’ rights part of the existing deal even if the rest of the agreement is rejected.
Mr Barclay told Mr Barnier in a letter sent in March that he wanted the rights ‘safeguarded in all scenarios’ as he urged him to agree to a ‘ring-fenced’ agreement on citizens’ rights.
But Mr Barnier rejected the request and said the ‘best way to safeguard the rights of the citizens’ was for MPs to ratify the existing deal.
He said the relevant sections in the Withdrawal Agreement relating to protecting citizens’ rights were ‘part of an overall and comprehensive approach’ and it would be ‘far from straightforward’ to separate them from the rest of the deal.
‘It is indeed difficult to see how citizens could be able to rely on specific provisions in the absence of the whole structure guaranteeing the applicability and enforceability of the Agreement,’ he said.
Mr Barnier (left) and Mr Barclay were all smiles as they shook hands in front of waiting cameras this afternoon
Mr Barnier said the EU had already prepared for a No Deal scenario and that ‘even in this undesired scenario the rights of British nationals residing in the Union would remain a priority’ and they would not be ‘left in the dark’.
He said the government should ‘not be distracted’ from the ‘essential objective’ of the Withdrawal Agreement being backed ratified.
Correspondence published last month by the Department for Exiting the European Union showed Mr Barclay refused to take no for an answer.
He said in a new letter to Mr Barnier that there were ‘gaps’ in the EU’s current plan to protect citizens’ rights as he urged him to rethink the bloc’s approach.
‘To conclude, I agree that our joint efforts should remain focused on making sure that we reach an agreement in order to secure an orderly departure for both the UK and the EU,’ he wrote.
‘However, I suggest that together our officials continue to work on how we best protect citizen’s rights in all scenarios.’
The EU has largely left the issue of protecting the rights of UK nationals living on the continent post-Brexit in the hands of individual member states.
The UK has made its own unilateral offer to protect the rights of EU nationals living in Britain in the event of No Deal.
The offer means EU citizens will be able to continue to access healthcare and social security as they do now.
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