Michel Barnier today delivered a stark warning that Britain cannot leave the EU customs union without creating a hard Irish border.
In an extraordinary piece of sabre-rattling, the EU chief negotiator tried to back the UK into a corner by saying border checks between Northern Ireland and the Republic would be ‘unavoidable’.
He also dramatically escalated tensions by threatening to scupper a transition period unless Britain backs down over accepting free movement and EU laws in full.
The intervention, at a press conference in Brussels, came after Theresa May confirmed that Britain will not be in any form of customs union with the bloc after Brexit.
But Mr Barnier insisted the UK had already committed to a soft border between Northern Ireland and the Republic in the divorce agreement – vowing to make sure that is ‘unambiguously’ spelled out in a legal text.
In what amounted to an ultimatum, he added: ‘It is important to tell the truth. A UK decision to leave the single market and to leave the customs union would make border checks unavoidable.’
At a press conference in Brussels today the EU chief negotiator signalled a tough line as tensions escalated with David Davis over efforts to thrash out a deal
Mr Barnier said checks on the Irish border would be ‘unavoidable’ if Britain left the EU’s customs union
David Davis (pictured in 9 Downing Street yesterday) slammed Brussels for threatening to punish Britain during the Brexit transition period today
DUP MP Ian Paisley voiced anger at the attempt to force Britain into keeping close ties
The blunt comments caused Brexiteer fury that the EU is trying to force Britain into keeping close ties.
DUP MP Ian Paisley said: ‘Well then Mr Barnier, go right ahead and start building your hard border. Or else negotiated a sensible free trade deal with the UK.
‘The choice is now yours.’
The latest evidence of rising tensions came as:
- Davis Davis slammed the EU for threatening to punish Britain during the Brexit transition period.
- EU officials are said to be refusing to continue negotiations next week amid suspicions they are dragging their heels to increase pressure on the UK.
- Mrs May’s Brexit war Cabinet again failed to break its deadlock on what ‘end state’ it wants from the negotiations, with hopes now resting on an ‘away day’ at Chequers expected later this week.
- A leaked EU memo claimed that Jeremy Corbyn is ready to keep the UK in the customs union – even though it would mean not being able to sign trade deals with the rest of the world.
The Brexit Secretary accused the bloc of failing to act in ‘good faith’ over December’s political agreement on the terms of the Brexit divorce deal.
Earlier this week it emerged the EU wants powers to penalise Britain by closing off sectors of the single market if it fails to follow EU rules after Brexit takes place in March 2019.
But a clearly angry Mr Barnier told journalists today that he was not in any way ‘discourteous’.
The divorce deal struck in December stated that there would be enough regulatory alignment to avoid the need for a hard Irish border.
Mr Barnier said the EU was determined to ‘start legally defining how this scenario would work in operational terms’.
Brussels officials are drawing up plans for Northern Ireland to stay tied to the customs union, he said – although the UK has insisted two other options for organising the border are being looked at in parallel.
Mr Barnier said there were still key areas of disagreement with the UK over the divorce agreement.
He also jibed that the UK ‘needs’ a transition deal, but warned there are ‘substantial’ disagreements over the terms.
Theresa May (pictured meeting Japanese business figures in No10 yesterday) is trying to get Cabinet agreement on the Brexit strategy
The Brexit Secretary (pictured with, from left, aides Olly Robbins, Sir Tim Barrow in Downing Street yesterday) said the EU was not acting in ‘good faith’ over December’s political agreement on the terms of the Brexit divorce deal
He insisted the EU wanted people who come to the UK during the 21-month interim period to have permanent residency rights.
Britain also wanted a way of objecting to new Brussels rules, and to have a say in how they are developed.
In a clear threat, Mr Barnier said: ‘If these disagreements persist the transition is not a given.’
He insisted he had ‘not been in the least discourteous or vindictive’. ‘We never wished to punish the UK – it’s totally foreign to my state of mind, and this has been true from the very beginning and this will be true until the very end of the negotiations.’
Both sides have signalled broad support for a status quo transition for around two years but Britain wants flexibility to start negotiating trade deals.
Following Cabinet talks on Brexit yesterday, Mr Davis launched his salvo at Brussels.
He said: ‘What we’re about, is building an implementation period, which is to build a bridge to a future where we work well together.
‘And I do not think it was in good faith to publish a document with frankly discourteous language, and actually implying that they could arbitrarily terminate, in effect, the implementation period.
‘That’s not what the aim of this exercise is, it’s not in good faith, and we think it’s unwise to publish that.’
Meanwhile, a leaked EU memo has claimed that Jeremy Corbyn is ready to keep the UK in the customs union – even though it would mean not being able to sign trade deals with the rest of the world.
The Labour leader is said to have privately signalled his willingness to make a series of deep concessions if he takes charge of negotiations.
The commitments – which fly in the face of the party’s official policy – emerged in records of a meeting with Mr Barnier that took place earlier this week.
But Labour denied that Mr Corbyn said he would maintain existing customs arrangements, insisting he merely floated the idea of a new form of customs union.
It could be weeks until the full Cabinet thrashes out a stance that will be taken into the negotiation process with Brussels in March.
Michel Barnier (second from left) held talks with Keir Starmer (left), Jeremy Corbyn and Emily Thornberry (right) when he was in London on Monday
Boris Johnson, pictured in Downing Street ahead of the war Cabinet yesterday, is urging a clean break from the EU
The Cabinet subcommittee – made up of Mrs May and her top ministers including Philip Hammond, Amber Rudd, Boris Johnson and Michael Gove – discussed the Ireland issue yesterday afternoon.
The talks also covered the potential immigration arrangements for after we leave – while today the group was considering future trade arrangements.
But there are deep tensions between the Brexiteer and Remain factions, with Mr Hammond accused of trying to keep the UK tied to the EU customs union for years after we formally leave the bloc.
MailOnline revealed earlier this week that Mr Johnson is risking escalating Tory infighting by planning a big speech on his vision for ‘liberal Brexit’ for Valentine’s Day.
That would be just days before Mrs May is expected to deliver her own keynote address on the future of defence and security ties in Munich.
The EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier warned that Britain must provide more ‘clarity’ on its aims when he came to Downing Street on Monday.
Following today’s meeting, Mr Davis said: ‘Well the atmosphere is very constructive – I’m not going to give you a detailed blow-by-blow of a Cabinet committee – that obviously never happens.
‘Very constructive, a lot of things resolved. Bear in mind we’ve already got a very, very strong framework of what we want to achieve.’
Mr Davis said this was an ‘overarching free trade agreement’ with Brussels that would allow frictionless free trade with Europe and trade deals abroad.
He added: ‘There’s still progress to be made, but there’s a great deal of progress been made.’
It has emerged that the EU wants to put in place a method to rapidly curtail the UK’s single market benefits if it breaches agreements on a transition deal.
The plans would see Brussels able to restrict the UK’s access to the single market without going through the lengthy European Court of Justice (ECJ) legal process.
Negotiating guidelines published yesterday said there should be a ‘mechanism’ allowing the EU to ‘suspend certain benefits’ of single market membership during the transition period.
Such a move would be considered if referring the matter to the ECJ ‘would not bring in time the necessary remedies’, according to the document, which sets out the EU’s position on a transition deal in legal language.
The document also said the UK would only be ‘consulted’ when decisions are made on fishing quotas during the period.
Whitehall attempted to play down the significance of the draft text, insisting it would form the basis for a negotiation on the terms of a transitional deal, which is expected to last for around two years after the UK leaves the bloc in March 2019.
A Department for Exiting the European Union spokesman said: ‘This is a draft document produced by the EU that simply reflects their stated directives.
‘The Secretary of State set out the UK’s position in his speech in Teesside last month.
‘Together these provide a solid foundation for the negotiations on the implementation period which have begun this week with the aim of reaching agreement by March European Council.’
Irish deputy premier Mr Coveney yesterday called on the UK Government to drop ‘tough talk’ on Brexit and stay in the single market.
He said a calm and rational debate on the merits of continued membership of extended customs union and single market structures was overdue.
Addressing a packed audience at a conference in Co Louth, Mr Coveney urged the UK to keep access to the ‘world’s largest and most successful free market – a market British genius has helped design’.
‘Thus far however, as we know, the British Government has not been prepared to seek that type of relationship,’ he added.
‘My hope is that in the coming weeks, previous red lines and tough talking points will be put to one side and a calm and rational debate about what is in the best interests of the people of Britain and Northern Ireland can prevail.’