EU PANIC: Theresa May’s adviser pinpoints three times EU has tried to RUIN Brexit talks
THERESA MAY'S former adviser has pinpointed three times the EU has tried to ruin Brexit talks and failed to reciprocate an offer the UK has enacted.
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The UK formally left the EU back in January and trade negotiations have been gridlocked over key issues such as fishing, governance and the so-called level playing field. As the end of the transition period draws closer, both sides are scrambling to come to an agreement.
But now, Nick Timothy, a former Joint Downing Street Chief of Staff to Mrs May, has pinpointed three times the bloc has tried to ruin Brexit talks.
Mr Timothy said: “While Britain made unilateral security guarantees, the EU has refused to allow us to participate in its information-sharing security systems.
“When the Government guaranteed the rights of EU citizens in the United Kingdom, Brussels refused for months to reciprocate.
“A top EU official claimed that ‘losing’ Northern Ireland was ‘the price’ Britain had to pay for Brexit.
“And it is undeniable that Brussels has exploited the province throughout the negotiations, even threatening at one point to effectively blockade food imports from Britain.”
Mr Timothy goes on to say how the EU’s negotiating position on the level playing field provisions have “toughened considerably” in the last month.
He then argued the EU has changed its stance on allowing Britain to access and enjoy the benefits of the single market.
Mr Timothy wrote in The Telegraph: “After all, the mantra that rights and obligations must be held in balance meant, for most of the last four years, that the EU said Britain could not seek single market membership without accepting single market rules.
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“Now, Brussels says Britain cannot ‘have access to’ or ‘enjoy the benefits’ of the single market without some kind of dynamic alignment in regulation, which is a very different proposition.”
He added: “On labour market rights, food standards and the environment, Britain is hardly likely to deregulate radically.
“If a slightly different, more agile, approach to regulation in Britain is enough to jeopardise the single market, perhaps the single market is not the colossal achievement its advocates suggest.
“Or more realistically, perhaps the fears of the Europeans are misplaced.”
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Mr Timothy ends his comment piece by suggesting the EU would be stronger working with Britain rather than against us.
He continued: “The EU has ambitions for Europe that go far beyond its roleas a trading bloc and ‘regulatory superpower’.
“It should be confident that its status as such a power is secure.
“It now seeks a wider geopolitical leadership role, capable of protecting its citizens from security risks, preventing further migration crises, responding to the rise of China, and leading the world on climate change.
“On each of these issues, the EU would be stronger working with Britain, not against us.
“It is time to do the deal and move on.”
With the deadline looming, Prime Minister Boris Johnson and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen have agreed to continue trade talks.
Speaking from Downing Street, Mr Johnson said: “I’ve repeated my offer, which is if it is necessary to talk to other capitals, I’m very happy to do that.
“The Commission is very determined to keep the negotiations to the way they have been done, between us and the Commission.
“That’s fine.”