Great Britain refused to start negotiations on cooperation in the field of foreign policy and defense, said Michel Barnier.
The European Union and Great Britain have begun the second phase of negotiations on Brexit, which is dedicated to future trade relations. The EU’s Brexit chief negotiator Michel Barnier said this on Thursday following the first meeting with his British counterpart David Frost, TASS reported on March 5.
According to him, London refused to start negotiations on cooperation in foreign policy and defense.
“We held the first round of these negotiations, which will be very eventful and will be aimed at completely restructuring the close cooperation between the EU and Great Britain on a new legal basis”, – he said.
According to Barnier, the EU’s goal is to build a close partnership with the United Kingdom in the field of economy and security, to create a free trade zone that covers all goods and services without duties and quotas.
“We launched 11 areas of negotiations with the UK in various areas, with the exception of foreign policy and defense, as the British side informed us that it does not want to discuss these topics. We remain open for discussion in the future if the UK wants to”, – said the EU negotiator.
In general, Barnier noted that the first round of negotiations was very constructive and useful. According to him, reaching an agreement “will be difficult, but real”. These negotiations should be completed by the end of the year.
Barnier stressed that Brussels and London have serious disagreements in four areas. First, the UK does not want the introduction of legally binding common rules in the field of competition and business regulation. Secondly, she refuses to accept obligations to implement the European Convention on Human Rights, and also to recognize the decisions of the European Court of Human Rights on her territory, which seriously undermines the possibilities of police cooperation between the EU and the UK.
Thirdly, London prefers to conclude with the EU a series of agreements on various fields of cooperation, while Brussels proposes to reduce everything to one broad association agreement.
The fourth block of disagreements is fishing issues, according to which the EU wants to detail quotas for marine zones and fish species, and the UK suggests adhering to the principle of equal access to each other’s waters.
Barnier emphasized that Great Britain is very concerned about preserving its independence, “however, the EU also has independence, which must be respected, since the EU also puts forward its conditions for opening its market”.
Recall, March 2, EU authorities and the United Kingdom began negotiations on trade cooperation after Brexit. This is an annual trade of 500 billion euros.