Will get spanked...

EU gains upper hand as uphill Brexit talks begin

UK concession seems to recognize that Prime Minister Theresa May’s political strength has been diminished.

By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN AND CHARLIE COOPER

Score one for the EU: it will be divorce first, future relationship next.

As historic talks began Monday on the U.K.’s withdrawal from the European Union, the first-ever departure of a member nation, the British side conceded that divorce terms would be addressed first and the future relationship that London has set as its top priority would have to wait.

Speaking after the opening day of talks, David Davis, the U.K. Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, acknowledged that “enough progress, in their words” would have to be demonstrated to leaders of the remaining EU27 countries before negotiations would proceed beyond the opening divorce stage.

Davis, standing alongside the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier, erased any doubt about the U.K.’s intentions regarding the single market that has long served as the foundation of the bloc and its fundamental source of peace and prosperity since World War II.

“Because the membership of the single market requires the Four Freedoms to be obeyed, and we need to bring back to Britain control of our laws and control of our borders, we will be leaving the single market,” Davis declared, referring to the fundamental freedoms, including the movement of people and goods, that serve as the single market’s cornerstone.

The U.K.’s concession on the sequencing of the talks, while perhaps inevitable given legal requirements in the EU treaties, was nonetheless a stunning turnabout and seemed to be a recognition that Prime Minister Theresa May‘s political strength has been diminished by her embarrassing setback in national elections.

While acknowledging that the talks would proceed as the EU wished, Davis insisted that the U.K. had not really given any ground and that what matters is not how the talks start but “how it finishes.”

“The U.K. has been crystal clear about our approach to the negotiations,” Davis said. “The withdrawal process cannot be concluded without the future relationship also being taken into account.”

‘Not a punishment’

Davis said the U.K. would publish on Monday a paper laying out its negotiating position on citizens’ rights in greater detail, including what British officials describe as a “big, generous” offer. He did not say when the U.K. would make clear its position on the financial settlement.

At their joint news conference, Davis and Barnier — a veteran French public official with long experience in Brussels — faced questions about the political chaos in Britain, including whether they could be confident Davis would remain on the other side of the negotiating table.

Speculation that May could be ousted from her post has also fueled some guessing that Davis is among the officials who could replace her.

Lending a hand to his counterpart, Barnier noted that they had worked together in various capacities since 1995, when they each served as minister for European affairs in their home countries.

“I am working with the British government and its official representative, David Davis, that’s what I can say for my part,” Barnier said.

From his opening statement at the news conference until an impassioned closing, Barnier stressed the U.K. would live with the consequences of its sovereign decision to leave the EU, which Barnier made clear he viewed as a mistake that would leave Britain and its citizens worse off.

Barnier said he was trying to portray the Brexit negotiations in utterly pragmatic terms, with the U.K. having no choice but to live up to the financial commitments it has incurred over more than 40 years in the EU. But at times he seemed extremely emotional.

“We have to clear accounts and we have to honor financial commitments,” Barnier said. While Britain may be exercising its sovereign right to leave, Barnier said, ”The United Kingdom will not have the same rights and benefits as other EU members.”

“I am not in a frame of mind to make concessions or to ask concessions,” he added. “This is not a punishment. This is not a revenge. Never. We are implementing the decision of the U.K.  to leave the EU and to stop, to unknit 44 years of relationship between us.”

“I will do all I can to put passion and emotion to one side and stick to the facts, the figures and the legal basis and to work with the U.K. to find an agreement in this spirit,” said the EU negotiator.

Northern Irish question

On a technical level, the negotiators agreed in principle to a format of four-week rounds of bargaining, with one week per month of head-to-head bargaining, to be carried out in English and French.

With barely 21 months left until the deadline to reach an accord, negotiators said the first full round of talks would not start until July 17 – a sign that pressure is likely to mount as they confront a dizzying array of complex issues, including citizens’ rights and a financial settlement.

The initial focus on citizens’ rights and finances prompted some questions about whether another thorny issue — the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland — had been pushed aside.

Davis insisted the Irish border issue had taken up more time than any other on the first day of talks, but acknowledged it was a ferociously difficult matter to resolve. While he insisted negotiators wanted to maintain an “invisible border” in keeping with the Good Friday Agreement, there would also be a need for new customs and border checks.

The U.K. government will seek to portray the establishment of a “dialogue” on Northern Ireland, rather than the kind of working group that has been established for other topics, as a sign of the importance attached to the matter. This dialogue will be led by the most senior official in the British camp, May’s EU adviser Oliver Robbins.

U.K. government officials also insist the sequencing of the talks is consistent with their longstanding position that exit and future relationship should be discussed “alongside” each other. But it is hard to see how Davis’s prediction in May that the timetable would be the “row of the summer” will now come true: The Brits have signed off on the timetable.

Far from a row, in fact, British officials painted a rosy picture of the first days of historic talks. One Whitehall official said “an awful lot of progress” had been made, and the sessions were book-ended by both sides emphasizing the importance of a “constructive” atmosphere, another U.K. government official said.

Settling accounts

The high point of the bonhomie came with the exchange of gifts, which was made just before a working lunch of red mullet.

Both men are keen walkers, so Davis gave Barnier a first edition of the mountaineering guide ‘Regards vers L’Annapurna,’ while Davis received a wooden hiking stick from his EU counterpart. “A fine piece of work,” remarked one British official.

Certainly, more difficult terrain lies ahead for these talks.

Over the summer, the chief stumbling block could be the size of the severance payment, owed by the U.K. to the EU to honor past commitments and settle accounts.

Government officials in London have repeatedly rejected estimates of the gross figure ranging from £60 billion to £100 billion. Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s World at One program as talks continued in Brussels, Davis’s right-hand man in London, the newly-appointed Brexit Minister Steve Baker, said the U.K. had carried out its own analysis of what it owed and would “probe the European Union’s position and work through the numbers.”

“Then we will end up arriving at a position where the U.K. pays what it owes in a proper manner consistent with our reputation for obeying the rule of law,” he said.