Ursula von der Leyen today warned hopes of the EU and UK agreeing a trade deal are fading with every passing day as tensions remain high over Boris Johnson’s plans to tear up parts of the Brexit divorce deal.
The President of the European Commission hit out at the Prime Minister’s proposals to override the Withdrawal Agreement as she said the accord struck last year ‘cannot be unilaterally changed, disregarded or dis-applied’.
The EU has given Mr Johnson until the end of the month to withdraw his plans, with Brussels warning that a failure to do so risks the total collapse of trade talks.
‘With every day that passes, the chances of a timely agreement do start to fade,’ Ms von der Leyen told the European Parliament this morning.
Her comments came amid claims that Michel Barnier, the EU’s top negotiator, said Mr Johnson had sparked the Brexit row in order to distract from the Government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis.
He made the comments at a private meeting of European ambassadors on Monday this week, according to Politico.
Justice Secretary Robert Buckland today hinted the Government could strike a compromise with Tory rebels over the PM’s Brexit plans.
Ministers have admitted the proposals would break international law, sparking a revolt by Conservative backbenchers.
The rebels want Parliament to have the ability to veto any move by Mr Johnson to depart from the divorce deal – a so-called ‘parliamentary lock’.
Mr Buckland said this morning he believed the original plans could be made ‘acceptable to all Conservative colleagues’ in a sign that ministers are willing to shift on the issue to win over their Tory critics.
His comments came as Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab prepares to meet US Speaker Nancy Pelosi in Washington today to assuage her Brexit concerns.
Ms Pelosi said last week there would be ‘absolutely no chance’ of Congress passing an American trade deal with the UK if the PM’s Brexit plans ‘imperilled’ the Good Friday Agreement.
Meanwhile, a group of four senior US congressmen have written to Mr Johnson to express a similar sentiment as they urged him to ‘abandon’ any proposals which could undermine the peace process.
Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, today warned hopes of the EU striking a trade deal with the UK are fading
Justice Secretary Robert Buckland today hinted the Government could compromise on its Brexit plans to win over Tory rebels
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is in Washington today for talks with US counterpart Mike Pompeo and US Speaker Nancy Pelosi with Brexit expected to feature heavily
Ms Pelosi warned last week there will be no US/UK trade deal if the Government’s Brexit plans jeopardise the Good Friday Agreement
What does the UK Internal Market Bill do, and how do rebels want to amend it?
Former minister Bob Neill has tabled a key amendment to the Bill
The UK Internal Market Bill is intended to be a ‘safety net’ in case the EU tries to impose an ‘extreme’ interpretation of the Withdrawal Agreement.
If Brussels refused to list the UK as a ‘third country’, there would effectively be a blockade on food exports going from the mainland to Northern Ireland.
In response, the legislation would give ministers powers to override key parts of the divorce terms – bypassing a joint committee that is means to thrash out key issues such as over customs.
However, critics complain that the move would breach international law – something Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis admitted last week was the case.
The PM insisted Parliament would get a vote if he ever want to invoke the unusual powers – designed to prevent Brussels from ‘blockading’ food exports to NI. But in fact it appears any vote would be ‘affirmative’ – held after the action had been implemented.
Rebels are gathering behind an amendment from former minister Bob Neill, proposing a ‘Parliamentary lock’ so MPs would need to approve overriding the Withdrawal Agreement before it happens.
A potential way of buying off some rebels would be to offer a less stringent lock, limiting the scope of ministers to deploy the controversial measures in the Bill while keeping the weapon in the arsenal if the EU refused to budge.
One MP involved in the mutiny told MailOnline that the government did not need to remove the clauses from the legislation altogether, and part of the frustration was that other options, such as the dispute mechanisms in the WA, had not been exhausted.
‘I don’t think anyone should seriously doubt the need to prepare for these circumstances,’ the MP said. ‘They might only need a caveat saying these clauses would only come into effect after the final ruling of the arbitration panel.’
The Government sparked a furious row with the EU after it published its UK Internal Market Bill last week.
The legislation will enable the UK to unilaterally make decisions on key issues, like customs arrangements between mainland Britain and Northern Ireland, contained within the Withdrawal Agreement.
Brussels is adamant that the decisions must be made by a joint committee made up of people from both sides – as set out in the treaty.
But the Government argues its new proposals are necessary in order to protect the integrity of the UK should the two sides be unable to agree terms.
Tory rebels have put forward an amendment to the legislation which would create a ‘parliamentary lock’ on any attempt by the Government to try to depart from the Brexit divorce deal.
A vote on the amendment is scheduled to take place next Tuesday but Mr Buckland today suggested the Government could move on the issue in order to stop the rebellion.
He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘I think that the issue is this. We want to make sure that if we hit a situation where we have this sort of dislocation, this sort of crisis if you like, that we can act swiftly to bring in to power the necessary regulations.
‘I think that whilst actually we have got parliamentary procedures to allow secondary legislation to come into force with debate and scrutiny, we have got to get the balance right.
‘We want to make sure that we are fleet of foot when it comes to the crunch but at the same time to make sure that MPs have their say.
‘That is what the Prime Minister wants, that is what he said in parliament and I am sure we will find a way to do that in a manner that is acceptable to all Conservative colleagues.’
Mr Buckland also stressed the provisions within the UK Internal Market Bill which would allow Britain to override the Withdrawal Agreement and breach international law would only be used if the EU breached its Brexit obligations first.
He told Sky News: ‘If we reach that stage, the reason for it is because we judge that sadly, despite everybody’s best efforts, the EU is in a position where we think they are actually breaching their obligations to us.’
He said the controversial powers were effectively a ‘break glass in case of emergency provision’ and would only be used in the event that other arbitration mechanisms failed to resolve disagreements between the UK and EU.
He did not deny that he has held talks with Tory rebel leader Bob Neill, the chairman of the Justice Select Committee.
‘I don’t think it would be right of me to start talking about private conversations,’ he said.
The tone of Mr Buckland’s comments is in stark contrast to Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis’s blunt admission last week that the Government’s plans will ‘break international law in a very specific and limited way’.
Mr Lewis joined Mr Buckland in hinting there could be a compromise as he gave evidence to the Northern Ireland Affairs Select Committee this morning.
He said debate on the Bill is ‘ongoing’ and it would be ‘wrong of me to presuppose what the outcome will be’.
Mr Lewis refused to guarantee the Government would abide by decisions made by a UK/EU arbitration panel on disputes as he said it was ‘dangerous’ to get into ‘hypotheticals’.
The Northern Ireland Secretary also dismissed claims made by Lord Keen of Elie, the Advocate General for Scotland, that Mr Lewis had ‘answered the wrong question’ last week when he said the Bill does break international law.
Mr Lewis told the Committee: ‘I have spoken to Lord Keen and I have to say… looking at the specific question my honourable friend asked me last week, he agrees the answer I gave was the correct answer.’
It came as Mr Raab tries to assuage concerns in the US over the Government’s Brexit proposals.
The Foreign Secretary is due to meet with Ms Pelosi as well as his counterpart Mike Pompeo.
Last week Ms Pelosi warned the UK there would be no trade deal with Washington if Britain undermined the Good Friday Agreement.
She said: ‘If the UK violates that international treaty and Brexit undermines the Good Friday accord, there will be absolutely no chance of a US-UK trade agreement passing the Congress.’
Meanwhile, four senior US congressmen, led by chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Eliot Engel, have written to Mr Johnson urging the Government to respect its open border and peace process with Northern Ireland.
The letter, which was also signed by Mr Engel’s fellow Democrats Richard Neal and William Keating as well as Republican Peter King, urged the PM to ‘abandon any and all legally questionable and unfair efforts to flout the Northern Ireland protocol of the Withdrawal Agreement’.