By Ashley Young-
The EU has said that they will stall negotiations with the UK over Britain’s refusal to propose a divorce bill to settle their departure from the European Union. British negotiators have been clear that they do not accept the idea of divorce bill and so have no plans to present their own estimate of financial obligations owed to the EU on Brexit during this week’s round of negotiations.
WARNED
EU diplomats have warned that their chief negotiator Michel Barnier is prepared to “stall” talks if the UK do not present their proposals in writing. However, U.K. Brexit Secretary, David Davis told the House of Lords committee that the “proper approach to getting the right outcome in the negotiation” would be to “challenge” the EU’s calculations.
The Brexit Secretary told the House of Lords EU committee last week that British officials had been engaged in interrogating the EU’s position on the so-called Brexit bill “on a line by line, almost word by word basis.”
“The objective in the case of the financial settlement is not to pay more than we need to, it’s fairly obvious,” he said. “There will be a process of challenge going on here and that will happen and has started already.” The dispute means the second rounds of negotiations may stagnate from the outset, stagnating talks due to an issue that neither side wants to view flexibly.
The vexing issue may yet be settled by The EU courts, if both parties cannot rationally and factually settle the matter professionally like would be expected of top world leaders .
The Commission’s spokesman Margaritis Schinas told reporters on Tuesday that he would not provide “a running commentary” on the talks after earlier indicating that the EU have good lawyers already examining the legalities surrounding the painful dispute over a divorce bill.
“Talks are ongoing as we speak,” Schinas said, adding that the Commission will “assess this round of negotiations but it will not be done today or tomorrow, it will be done on Thursday.” Davis’s suggestion that EU calculations over the divorce bills should be challenged makes plenty of sense considering the importance of talks with The EU about Brexit.
Refusal to communicate about a charge levied against one could be tantamount to stubbornness and lack of co-operation to achieve a resolution. However, if British negotiators with an understanding of the argument believe EU chiefs are making an unreasonable demand by giving excessive figures, the likelihood will be for them to avoid discussing this this important but sore issue.
Over £650bn is expected from the UK for leaving the EU, and so far, the UK has not accepted it owes £1bn, talk less of £650bn.
In an ideal world it would be a simple question of both the EU and the UK assessing the grounds of the bill and agreeing on a factual basis, how much debt is owed, if any.
In the world of politics it for some reason has to be more complicated than common sense would suggest it should be, but this is a transitory period that will eventually be addressed. No progress will be made in Brexit talks with The EU, until a decision is made in relation to this hefty bill the EU has slapped Britain with to leave Europe. A decision by an EU court is best avoided.
An effective dialogue between the two camps must resolve this issue, especially as the opposing parties can always consult the public for their joint views on the matter, though it cannot be put up for a democratic vote. The rest of the week will be expected to produce more progress on talks.