‘White is the new green’, said Michel Barnier as he held the draft Brexit withdrawal agreement aloft at a press conference in Brussels tonight. The EU’s chief negotiator was referring to the chunks of text that had previously been coloured in where there had been disagreement. Not too long ago, the white sections were few and far between. Now, the colours are all gone and the mammoth 585 page proposed Brexit agreement is the result. A no deal Brexit has, for now at least, been avoided.
We’re all familiar with the dire warnings of the cost to Britain of an acrimonious Brexit. These predictions are contentious but one thing is sure: on a personal level, no deal would have been a disaster for Barnier. Barnier was clearly relieved that this breakdown in talks didn’t materialise and he was keen to talk up his role in tonight’s outcome. He said this agreement marked an ‘important moment in this extraordinary negotiation’. Barnier went on to say that the document fulfilled the ‘common objectives’ of the UK and the EU in protecting the Good Friday agreement; preserving the integrity of the EU single market; respecting the UK’s territory; and protecting the common travel area between Ireland and the UK.
Barnier was also eager to talk up the spirit of unity that clearly hasn’t always been there between the two sides. ‘We have never negotiated against the UK but always with the UK. Today, in my capacity as the EU’s chief negotiator, I consider that we have achieved decisive progress in the Brexit negotiations. The UK will remain our friend, our ally and our partner,’ he said.
The big bone that Barnier had for Theresa May in all this is an extension to the transition period. He confirmed in the press conference that the two sides had agreed that while the UK will leave the EU next March, for 21 months the current situation will be preserved to give time for a future agreement to be thrashed out. On the backstop, Barnier made it clear that this is something that neither side wants to resort to. It ‘is not meant to be used’, he said, saying that the goal is still the same: ‘to reach a new agreement before the end of the transition’.
But while Barnier was clearly keen to talk up his success – and looked pleased with his efforts – there was also a warning: ‘the path is still long and may be still difficult to guarantee an orderly agreement’. A sign of such difficulties was in evidence before Barnier had even taken to his feet, as Jacob Rees-Mogg used an open letter to call on Tory MPs to vote the deal down. Barnier has since been tweeting thumbs up emojis on Twitter; the next few days will tell whether this celebration proves to be premature.
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