UK wants ‘mutually beneficial’ Brexit deal, says David Davis

U.K. Brexit Secretary David Davis will reassure the EU that his country wants a Brexit deal “that works in the best interests of both the EU and the U.K.” when he meets his EU opposite number Michel Barnier on Monday, according to planned remarks sent to journalists.

کد خبر: ۷۲۵۳۶۸

تاریخ: ۰۶ شهريور ۱۳۹۶ - ۰۸:۴۷

U.K. Brexit Secretary David Davis will reassure the EU that his country wants a Brexit deal "that works in the best interests of both the EU and the U.K.” when he meets his EU opposite number Michel Barnier on Monday, according to planned remarks sent to journalists.

Barnier and Davis formally open the third round of Brexit negotiations on Monday —  the first meeting since the U.K. published a series of position papers on issues including the customs union, the Northern Irish border and Britain’s approach to leaving the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.

Davis will say that the U.K.’s firm goal "remains to secure a mutually beneficial agreement, that works for people and businesses across Europe,” and that "we’re ready to roll up our sleeves and get down to work once more,” according to the remarks sent by U.K.’s Department for Exiting the European Union.

Davis will also tell Barnier that the U.K.’s position papers are to form the "basis” of the talks and that the U.K. wants to "lock in the points where we agree, unpick the areas where we disagree, and make further progress on a range of issues.” But in order to do that, "we’ll require flexibility and imagination from both sides,” Davis is to say.

The Brexit secretary’s remarks though did not address a major stumbling block in the talks — the EU’s demand that the U.K. submit a detailed methodology for calculating its financial obligations on exiting the bloc. British negotiators have so far refused to produce their own calculations for the so-called Brexit bill, preferring instead to critique the calculations put forward by their opposite numbers.

"We have not so far and will not next week encounter a situation when lack of time will prevent us from advancing,” one senior EU official told journalists on Friday. "So far it has been a lack of substance [from the U.K.].”

While both sides differ on the issue of the Brexit bill, they are expected to secure agreement on one key aspect of trade policy: A deal on reduced-tariff import quotas is expected to be signed off, according to diplomats familiar with the talks. If it can be finalized, it will be the first concrete result from the negotiations.

These negotiations will be the penultimate round of talks before EU leaders decide in October whether "sufficient progress” has been made on separation issues to move on to discussion of a future trade relationship between the U.K. and the bloc.

They come a day after the opposition Labour Party announced it would advocate for Britain to remain in the EU’s single market and customs union in a transitional period beyond March 2019, a shift from its previous positions on Brexit that puts pressure on the Conservative government to deliver on a bespoke transitional customs arrangement with the EU, which it supports.