Season 2 Episode 1. Monday March 2 kicked off in Brussels the first round of negotiations for the second phase of Brexit on the future relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union (EU). A delegation of about 100 Britons made the trip, led by chief negotiator David Frost, a diplomat as courteous as he was determined, and a fervent brexiter.
Michel Barnier, in this position on the European side since 2016, will be his main contact. A dozen thematic negotiation tables will be opened (fishing, transport, energy, etc.). Nine more "rounds" of talks are slated for the fall, with London demanding an agreement before the end of the year.
When Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, had made the trip to London in January, for a first contact with Boris Johnson, the two leaders had assaulted with good will. A month later, the war of words and postures resumed, more virulent than ever.
More worrying: the mandates, the official threads of the discussions, leave little room for compromise. The British are even explicit: if the prospect of a rapid agreement is not obvious in June, they will leave the table. What are the main subjects of tension in this new high-risk confrontation?
Trade agreement and undistorted competition
Brussels and London want to achieve free trade treaty establishing "Zero tariff and zero quota" between the UK and the EU. Goods passing through the Channel will now be subject to controls (at least sanitary and regulatory), but ideally they should not be taxed or subject to quotas.
But given "Geographic proximity and interdependence" savings, the Twenty-Seven condition this agreement " generous and ambitious " the UK's respect for fair and undistorted competition ("Level playing field"). That is to say, in effect, a UK regulatory alignment with EU laws on state aid, the environment, working conditions or tax policy.
There is no question of it, retorted David Frost in mid-February, during a speech perceived as provocative in Brussels. " The whole point of Brexit " is precisely in the regulatory divergence with the EU, said the diplomat. " The British government will not negotiate any agreement that does not guarantee the country control over its own laws ”, clarifies London's mandate.
