By Gabriel Princewill
A leaked document to the Daily Express shows plans by EU president, Jean Claude Juncker to scupper any hopes of Britain securing an EU deal when Britain formally leaves the Union.
Theresa May plans to trigger Article 50 in March to begin the formal process of Brexit. May’s government await official confirmation from the Supreme Court whether the process of leaving the 28 state bloc will require discourse with Mp’s in Parliament.
However, Juncker- the controversial and unelected EU president- has already placed his bureaucrats from the Commission in charge of the hugely divisive negotiations, according to the leaks. Juncker is known to hold highly unrelenting views as far as any deals to Britain in the event of Brexit is concerned.
British officials had hoped that the EU Council representing the 27 heads of Government in the bloc, would chair the two-year talks with European leaders.
Those hopes have been dashed by the revelation of an orchestrated draft agenda for tomorrow’s upcoming EU Council meeting. The draft agenda indicates a preset arrangement for Juncker’s cohorts to preside over the negotiations.
Mr Juncker’s elected negotiator- French politician Michel Barnier- will be highly positioned in the negotiating table, effectively marginalising Britain’s leverage to negotiate effectively once Article 50 has been triggered. Such arrangements would be a none starter for any objective negotiations.
Underlying the ploy to frustrate negotiations, is an apprehension that smooth talks could set a precedent that could inspire further divorces from the integrative solidarity that have kept the EU together for decades.
The real challenge to Theresa May avowedly revolves around her ability to be creative and ingenious. The U.K Prime Minister may have to address those concerns by coming up with novel ideas and suggestions why Britain should be granted exceptional treatment. The setting and framework of those negotiations will primarily have to be tackled .
An assembly of individuals with its high officials holding an implacable set of ideologies, cannot comprise a negotiating table.
Legitimate negotiations must genuinely explore all possibilities of a deal, coherently highlighting any reasons no solutions are reached where negotiations fail.