Brexit: Senior EU official derides UK position as “fantasy”
The UK has been described as living in a “fantasy” when it comes to Brexit, prompting an angry response from Whitehall.
This week saw officials return to the negotiating table in Brussels for another round of Brexit talks in which withdrawal issues, Northern Ireland and the future relationship were up for discussion.
But in a briefing after the gruelling talks had taken place, a senior EU official told journalists that the UK was refusing to accept that things could not stay as they were.
“I’m a bit concerned because the precondition for fruitful discussions has to be the UK accepts the consequences of its own choices,” the official said.
“The sooner we move beyond ‘let’s just keep everything we have now’… the sooner we move away from this fantasy, then the quicker we can make progress.”
The deadline to resolve the Irish border issue was particularly of concern, he added, noting there had been no progress on the “crunch items” of the customs relationship.
But the EU official said any solution must be “Northern Ireland-specific” and they must “do away with fantasy that it can be a whole-of-UK solution” that would keep UK in the Single Market through the back door.
Yesterday it was reported that Theresa May was planning to request a formal extension to the transition period for customs, with The Times suggesting the government hoped to have it pushed back until 2023.
Downing Street has denied such plans, but earlier in the week HMRC boss Jon Thompson had told MPs there was no way either proposal would be ready in time for the end of transition on New Year’s Eve 2020, which could result in the feared hard border.
According to the BBC, a UK official has dismissed the EU’s response as simply a “public negotiating position”.
He said: ‘We presented seven papers this week, in the interests of resolving difficult issues in the interests of both sides, so the claim we aren’t providing enough detail is laughable.
“The risk is that, if they follow down this track, putting conditions on our unconditional offers and trying to insult us, the EU will end up with a relationship with its third biggest economy and largest security partner that lets down millions of citizens in the EU and UK.”