BREXIT: EU, Better-Prepared UK Still At Odds in Talks

-UK's Davis touts more position papers

-EC Barnier criticises "ambiguity"

By Tara Oakes

     BRUSSELS (MNI) - UK Brexit negotiator David Davis cut short his bank

holiday on Monday to get to Brussels for the start of the next round of Brexit

talks.

     Armed with a raft of position papers on everything from judicial

cooperation to document confidentiality, Britain is keen to give the impression

that it is better prepared than during the last round of talks in July.

     "They are the product of hard work and detailed thinking," Davis told

journalists upon arrival in the Berlaymont building in Brussels.

     But it may not be enough for the European Commission, whose chief

negotiator Michel Barnier opened his statement with an expression of

frustration.

     "To be honest, I'm concerned. Time passes quickly," Barnier said.

     Publicizing more concrete positions means more room for disagreement with

the EU, who bundled out the majority of their position papers ahead of the last

round. The UK only turned up with one, on citizens' rights.

     Davis is angling to increase the pace and move on to the second stage of

negotiations about future relationship and called for "flexibility and

imagination from both sides". As part of this drive, the Department for Exiting

the EU published a paper on August 15 detailing two possible scenarios for a

future customs arrangement after leaving the customs union.

     But the EU side are keen to stick to the agreed timetable, which would only

allow future relationship talks to take place after "sufficient progress" has

been made in the three key areas: financial settlement, citizens' rights and

Ireland/Northern Ireland.

     Barnier told journalists Monday that they had read the UK's latest

offerings "very carefully".

     "The EU27 and the European parliament stand united. We will not accept that

separation issues are not addressed properly," Barnier added.

     Barnier seemingly put the brakes on any moves that would jump ahead to

future relationship talks.

     "The sooner we remove the ambiguity, the sooner we will be in a position to

discuss the transitional period," he said - a possible dig at a previous Davis

line saying the UK's Brexit position would be one of "constructive ambiguity".

     August's negotiations are also shorter than July's round, which kicked off

on a Monday morning at 9am and finished Thursday. This week's talks only

officially began at 1700 local time on Monday, and are again set to finish

Thursday, with Davis and  Barnier scheduled to give a press briefing Thursday

afternoon.

     Davis is also set to depart early in the week - his train back to London is

believed to be arranged for later on Monday.

     LABOUR

     When home, Davis faces an opposition Labour party with a better-honed new

soft Brexit stance, as outlined by his shadow cabinet counterpart Keir Starmer

in the Observer newspaper Sunday.

     In what is widely seen as an attempt to clarify Labour's previously muddy

Brexit position, Starmer wrote that his party "would seek to remain in a customs

union with the EU and within the single market" during a transition period of

unspecified length. To do so, "we would abide by the common rules of both",

Starmer wrote - accepting the necessity of freedom of movement that is often

seen as a red line to the current government.

     Scotland's Brexit minister, Mike Russell, told the BBC's Today programme on

Monday that Starmer's announcement was a "move in the right direction".

     UK, GERMAN BUSINESS WARNING

     UK and German business organisations also issued a joint statement earlier

Monday to coincide with the start of talks, calling on negotiators to give more

certainty on "shared economic interests".

     The text, published by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), and the

Association of German Chambers of Commerce (DIHK), warned that the foreseen new

burdens post-Brexit were "negatively affecting business on both sides".

     DIHK's foreign trade chief Volker Treier told the BBC on Monday that there

would "at least" increased bureaucracy when Brexit hits. 

--MNI Brussels Bureau; +44 203-865-3851; email: tara.oakes@marketnews.com

--MNI Paris Bureau; tel: +33 1-42-71-55-41; email: jack.duffy@marketnews.com

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