Negotiators to meet again in Brussels and London in effort to strike deal before year end Fri, Jul 31, 2020, 15:38 Updated: Fri, Jul 31, 2020, 15:42 British Brexit negotiator David Frost. The EU and the Swiss have been negotiating over 100 sectoral agreements since 1993. Iain Duncan Smith, then Tory leader, despatched the arch Eurosceptic David Heathcoat-Amory to represent the Conservative’s interests.It was this convention that removed the famous reference to “ever closer union” in the preamble to all EU Treaties since 1957. After the outbreak both Mr Barnier and Mr Frost were forced to self-isolate after displaying symptoms of the virus, and have both admitted that the pandemic has somewhat left talks behind schedule.But after a pledge by Mr Johnson and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to accelerate the talks, physical meetings have been reintroduced in the hope of striking a deal before the autumn.The need for a speedy deal was reinforced by the announcement Mr Frost will replace Mark Sedwill as the Prime Minister’s National Security Adviser in August.“I will, of course, remain Chief Negotiator for the EU talks and these will remain my top single priority until those negotiations have concluded, one way or another,” Mr Frost last night said.The talks today are just the start of an intense eight-week schedule agreed by both sides that will set the shape the UK-EU relationship for decades to come.A European Commission spokesman said: “Our overall message this week but also for the coming weeks and coming months is to intensify our negotiations in order to make progress in order to get a deal.“Our goal is to make progress and to reach a deal.”The Commission is undeterred by Mr Frost being handed a promotion by Mr Johnson.The spokesman added: “From our side at least we are fully concentrated on the negotiations.”The chief negotiators will focus on plans to revive the negotiations, which have so far failed to produce serious progress with both sides still too far apart to agree a deal.The UK Government has until the end of the month to extend the transition period by up to two years.But Mr Johnson has repeatedly refused to take up the option, insisting Britain will leave the EU’s single market and customs union on December 31.The Prime Minister’s reluctance to delay the Brexit talks and move away from his red lines has left Brussels unsure he genuinely wants to strike a deal.However, a secret dash by a number of Mr Barnier’s deputies to London, during the pandemic, brought back intelligence to the Belgian capital to show there was enough willingness to carry on talks throughout the health crisis.Last week Express.co.uk revealed that this week will be used to conjure up new working methods to meet the Prime Minister’s ambitious timetable.Sources on both sides have hinted this could involve the publication of new draft proposals in a bid to find room for compromises.So-called “non papers”, proposals without official standing, could be used to reveal negotiating hands without tabling a genuine plan.Theresa May's former de facto deputy prime minister has suggested both sides could create new secret working group to allow compromises to be floated in confidence without the fear of leaks.David Lidington said: “The most important thing in any negotiation is there have to be confidential channels, perhaps at the David Frost level or at a deputy negotiator level, so there’s a safe space for each side to float hypothetical compromises without fear they are going to be leaked.“That’s why trust is absolutely essential to any deal.
Even now, they are still in disagreement over the exact role for the European Court of Justice.In the end it will be the Prime Minister, not David Frost, who decides, just as on the EU side it will be President Macron — who is very close to Barnier — and Angela Merkel and other EU elected heads of government who will hold sway.The meetings in Brussels and then the return negotiations in London — assuming the coronavirus outbreak does not derail the whole timetable — will be important.
They will all be relative novices, as no living person has negotiated a trade deal for the UK. Their leader is David Frost, the mild-mannered FCO official who studied medieval French at Cambridge and was one of the hardest working FCO officials on Europe when I was Europe Minister.Frost always had concerns about the way Brussels operated. BREXIT talks between Michel Barnier and David Frost have resumed with face-to-face negotiations in Brussels for the first time in months due to the coronavirus pandemic.