Alors que le procès de News of the World touche lentement à sa fin, le tribunal a abordé hier les écoutes dont la duchesse de Cambridge a fait l’objet durant plusieurs années.
Le procès du tabloïd anglais News of the World poursuit son cours sous les yeux mi-scandalisés, mi-ahuris du grand public britannique. Après avoir abordé les écoutes de plusieurs personnalités ainsi que de membres de la famille royale, la Cour criminelle centrale d’Angleterre (Old Bailey) se penche désormais sur le cas de la duchesse de Cambridge. Dans leur enquête, les autorités ont découvert que la boîte vocale de la mère du petit George avait été écoutée illégalement à plus d’une centaine de reprises par le journaliste en charge des questions royales, Clive Goodman.
« Avez-vous oublié avoir écouté Kate Middleton 155 fois? » lui a demandé l’un des avocats présents au procès. « Non, je n’ai pas oublié, a répondu Goodman, tête baissée, elle était une figure d’une importance croissante. On disait qu’elle et le prince William allaient se marier, s’installer ensemble. Elle commençait à avoir un statut semi-royal. » Ainsi, d’octobre 2005 à juillet 2011, le journaliste du tabloïd pioche dans la messagerie de la future princesse au gré de ses envies. Les informations glanées permettent au News of the World de publier plusieurs scoops sur le couple que forment Kate et William. Face aux juges et aux jurés, Clive Goodman apparaît aujourd’hui plus gêné par le fait d’avoir été pris la main dans le sac que par ses actes.
Il ne reste désormais plus qu’un mois de procès à l’Old Bailey. Chaque journée d’audience dépeint de façon implacable les méthodes mafieuses employées par le journal pour arriver à ses fins. Clive Goodman avait d’ailleurs déjà été entendu par la Cour en mars dernier. Il avait avoué être à l’origine des écoutes des princes Harry et William. Il confirme aujourd’hui s’être introduit à distance dans leurs boîtes vocales, à 35 reprises pour le prince William et à 9 pour le prince Harry. Le reporter royal, son rédacteur en chef Andy Coulson et six autres membres de la rédaction de News of the World sont aujourd’hui sur le banc des accusés. Harry, Kate et William attendent désormais la décision du juge pour passer à autre chose. La justice ne devrait pas faire preuve de beaucoup de clémence dans cette affaire.
First Lady Melania Trump brought gifts to underprivileged children and the Christmas cheer in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday in a festive, holiday season plaid.
Melania Trump was all-smiles as she visited with children at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling and gifted them Christmas presents at the annual Toys for Tots gathering, a program run by the United States Marine Corps Reserve.
The First Lady donned an appropriately spirited red plaid jacket with a matching twist belt by Tomas Maier, a pair of J Brand skinny jeans, and her favorite scrunchy suede navy knee boots by Gianvito Rossi. The plaid jacket is currently on sale for about $525 and the boots retail for $1,650.
First lady Melania Trump helps sort toys during a Toys for Tots event at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, Tuesday, Dec. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
(NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)
(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
(Patsy Lynch/MediaPunch /IPX)
(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
(Patsy Lynch/MediaPunch /IPX)
(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
(NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)
(NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)
(NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)
(NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)
(NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)
(NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)
(NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)
(AP Photo/Susan Walsh)
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.
Brexit secretary says Juncker wants him fired but there’s no evidence to suggest that’s the case.
Could there be anything cooler in British politics these days than to be disliked in Brussels?
The U.K.’s chief Brexit negotiator, David Davis, has joined his boss, Prime Minister Theresa May, in declaring publicly that the EU is out to get him.
Davis was quick to claim his alleged disfavor in Brussels as a badge of honor. Pointing a finger at recent news accounts based on alleged leaks from European Commission officials, Davis told the Daily Telegraph: “All these stories are briefing against me, trying to get me sacked, which of course is a compliment by the way.” He added, “If they don’t want me across the table, there is a reason for that — it is in Britain’s interests, not theirs.”
Yet there’s absolutely no evidence to support Davis’ claim. And EU officials were quick to deny it.
“We have no comment on, and no interest in the composition of any government in our member states,” the Commission’s chief spokesman, Margaritis Schinas, said at a news conference Friday. “This is not our job. The only thing we would like to see is once the new government takes place, [there is] a good negotiator, as good as Michel Barnier, so we can start the job.”
When POLITICO pushed Schinas to go further, asking if he meant to say that Davis was not as good as Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, and therefore should be replaced, the spokesman rejected the assertion. “No, that’s what you are attempting to construe from what I said,” Schinas shot back. “But I think I was clear.”
Some news accounts of a dinner Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker had with May in London reported that EU officials left the meal wondering aloud if Davis would still be chief negotiator (technically his title is Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union) when the U.K. forms a new government following elections on June 8.
That May still has to win and form a government before starting the formal Brexit talks was stating the obvious, and hardly suggested a push for Davis to be fired. And, indeed, as Davis himself suggested, to be a villain in Brussels is to be a hometown darling in London these days. Presumably nothing would make May more likely to keep Davis in his post than the EU wanting him out. Brussels knows this full well.
On top of that, there has been no indication at all in London that Davis has fallen out of favor with the prime minister. On the contrary, he appears to have her full confidence.
So what’s really going on? Some of this may be the typical trash-talking and psychological warfare that occurs before the start of any sporting event. Davis, in fact, may not be as talented a negotiator as Barnier, a veteran French diplomat who served two terms as a European commissioner and is a veteran of tough battles with the City of London over regulatory issues after the 2009 financial crisis. Maybe the EU wants to get in his head and create self-doubt.
But Schinas, at Friday’s news conference, said he had a simpler idea: “We know that there is a campaign in the United Kingdom.”
This insight is from POLITICO’s Brexit Files newsletter, a daily afternoon digest of the best coverage and analysis of Britain’s decision to leave the EU. Read today’s edition or subscribe here.
For the weekend of January 19, Universal’s Glass filled up seats, while Kevin Hart’s Upside remained topside at number two. Meanwhile, action kid’s cartoon Dragon Ball Super: Broly bounced in at third place, and DC’s Aquaman stayed above water at fifth.
The star of the weekend was director M. Night Shyamalan’s third entry in his Unbreakable trilogy starring Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson, and James McAvoy. Glass brings all three of Shyamalan’s superheroes together for the first time in a psychological thriller to wrap up the series.
Glass shattered the competition, bringing in just over $40 million for its first three days at the box office, according to Box Office Mojo. The debut was still a bit below the studio’s expectations of a $50 million opening, but at a budget of only $20 million, the opening weekend already went a long way to erase its debts.
The third entry in the series seems on track to earn on par with episode two as 2017’s Split took $40 million on its opening weekend and earned about $138 million during its run at home.
Kevin Hart’s dramady, The Upside, proved to have enough legs to stay in the top five and earned itself the number two slot on its second weekend at theaters. The weekend’s take brings its estimated totals to almost $44 million domestically. The Upside, also starring Bryan Cranston, has earned an additional $4 million overseas, so the film has already earned back its $37.5 million budget.
In third place is FUNimation’s newcomer Dragon Ball Super: Broly, which seems to have brought in about ten million in box office dollars here in the U.S. since its opening on Wednesday.
In fourth place, DC’s Aquaman is still swimming along with the big dogs in the top five, earning another $10.3 million to add to its $304.3 million domestic sales. The superhero flick has earned a massive $1.06 billion worldwide and is only just shy of DC’s previous big seller, The Dark Knight. If the movie continues doing this well at theaters, it will become DC’s top earner ever.
Finally, Sony’s webslinger cartoon, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, clung to the top five, swinging in at fifth place and earning $7.25 million this weekend, which brings its total domestic ticket sales to $160 million.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
FRANS TIMMERMANS, BRIDGE BUILDER: The Commission’s first vice president spent much of his first year in office under attack from left-wingers unhappy that he was drastically reducing the legislative output of the EU and worried that his push for “better regulation” was simply code for “less regulation.”
How times have changed. Timmermans made a long statement on May Day celebrating Socialist political achievements such as the 8-hour work day, pensions, social security, secure working conditions, fair wages, prohibition of child labor, sick leave and the right to strike.
Timmermans then suggested: “The Social Democratic bridge builders had built the bridges. But now the bridges are there, so who needs the builders anymore?” In France at least, the overwhelming majority of voters don’t think they need any bridge builders. There’s also a bigger problem about the quality of the bridges. Timmermans thinks he might have the answer.
In an increasingly gig-based, zero-hours, self-employed, pay-for-your-own-education economy, Timmermans doubts that current welfare systems can cope. He is pushing for, among other things, an EU-wide debate about whether we need a universal basic income to help citizens cope with the stresses and insecurity of globalization, and help those who must simultaneously raise children, work low-paid jobs and care for their parents.
The global economy demands flexibility, but as Timmermans noted, “our mortgages or rent are not flexible, nor are our groceries.” If you thought the Commission’s recent proposal for an EU Pillar of Social Rights marked an about-face for a Union more associated with budget austerity and bank bailouts get ready for next week’s Commission paper on globalization. Fair trade, anyone?
HYPOTHETICALS: U.K. Brexit Secretary David Davis has claimed the British government doesn’t have to pay anything to the EU after Brexit if no trade deal is reached. If that is true, does it also mean the EU can simply walk away from its €500 million, 25-year lease on the European Medicines Agency’s swanky building in London — even though the lease has no break clause? Speaking of Davis, Playbook hears that the EU’s Brexit negotiators have such a low opinion of him they secretly hope he gets sacked. They don’t want him forced out after the June 8 election in order to gain a negotiating advantage, they simply think he doesn’t know enough to make it a useful, fair negotiation. Ouch.
MEPS VOTE AGAINST PUBLISHING RECEIPTS: Every month MEPs get around €4,000 as a “personal allowance” which they are meant to use on things like constituency offices and stationary. There’s no way of knowing what they spend it on, however, because they aren’t obliged to publish their receipts, and they rejected a proposal forcing them to do so in a vote last week. “Frankly, the complete lack of transparency and accountability of the [personal allowance] is appalling and it’s a scandal waiting to happen,” said Nick Aiossa, a researcher at Transparency International.
WONK OF THE WEEK: Richard Youngs is studying clampdowns against global civil society for Carnegie Europe, and has concluded that “the increasingly brutal crackdown against civic activists now represents a serious problem in well over a hundred countries in every region of the world.” The key EU figures he wants reading the reports: EU High Representative Federica Mogherini; Stavros Lambrinidis, the EU special representative for human rights; and the French and German foreign ministers and their teams.
BY THE NUMBERS
6 — The weight in kilograms of documents on Croatian EU accession and the EU-Canada trade deal that Jean-Claude Juncker dropped onto the dinner table when he met Theresa May last week.
1500 — Number of border guards at the EU’s external borders.
100,000 — Number of national border guards.
FEUD OF THE WEEK
Theresa May vs. journalists. What better way to celebrate Press Freedom Day this week than to lock reporters in a room! While tracking Theresa May, the U.K. prime minister, on the election campaign trail in the county of Cornwall, local journalists were banned from filming and put in a room which was then locked, prompting outrage. When they were finally allowed out to ask questions about a £264 million deficit in the county’s social care services, May responded: “That is about strong and stable leadership.” Alas, she didn’t add, “Now back in the room with you.”
GAFFES AND LAUGHS
Transparency award: Whoever leaked an extraordinarily detailed account of the Brexit dinner at which Jean-Claude Juncker, Michel Barnier, Martin Selmayr, Theresa May and David Davis were guests.
Getting ahead of oneself: Vicky Ford is the luckiest of the U.K. MEPs hoping to get elected in the June general election. She’s been selected as Conservative candidate for the safe seat of Chelmsford (the Conservatives won it by 18,000 votes in 2015). That didn’t stop Ford tempting fate at Wednesday’s meeting of the Parliament’s single market committee. Ford said goodbye to colleagues and invited everyone to drop in for tea next time they’re in London.
EPC’s new way to make ends meet: We know life is tough for think tanks these days, but the EPC is taking money-making to new levels. It sent out an email blast offering to rent 25 square meter corners of its Brussels office near Trone metro station.
Calling all Radiohead lovers: Do you love “OK Computer?” There will be a special “immersive listening session” on May 21 in Brussels. The event will take place at Le Cercle des Voyageurs.
Mixed message of the week: The #StopSharing campaign, a social media drive against governments using patient information to track down illegal immigrants, urged supporters to “Please also share our posts about the campaign on social media.” Erm…
SEPARATED AT BIRTH
European parliamentary assistant Emilio Puccio and the singer Mika.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Nothing to be paid” — U.K. Brexit Secretary David Davis’ view on what exactly the U.K. should fork out to Brussels if no Brexit deal is reached.
WHO’S UP
Theresa May: The U.K. prime minister turned a potentially dynamite account of her dinner with Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker into a tool with which to bash Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
Matteo Renzi: Italy’s former prime minister held onto the reins of the Democratic Party.
WHO’S DOWN
Zoran Zaev: The leader of Macedonia’s left-wing opposition was beaten up in parliament last week amid fears the country is collapsing into political chaos.
JP Morgan bankers: Many will be forced to swap London for Luxembourg after the bank clarified its short-term Brexit plans.
There were plenty of snubs in the Oscar’s annual In Memoriam segment Sunday night, but a political blacklist is the only possible reason for the Academy’s decision to shun the great R. Lee Ermey.
Stanley Donen? He died just hours prior to the telecast.
Oscar nominee Sondra Locke? She has been out of the public eye for decades.
John Mahoney? TV star.
Ricky Jay? Too few movies.
Verne Troyer? Too few movies.
Lee Ermey?
Lee freakin’ Ermey?
This snub is without question the act of Hollywood blacklisters who want the man erased, memory-holed, and forgotten… A man who’s personal political beliefs are verboten in an increasingly fascist industry.
Ermey was a Marine for 11 years and a decorated Vietnam veteran. When he retired from the Corps in 1972 due to injuries, he jumped into the motion picture business as a technical adviser. This led to a storied acting career that anyone with any aspiration in that field would envy.
Over the course of a 40-year career, Ermey stacked up 125 film and television credits. This includes roles in a number of popular and iconic movies, including Mississippi Burning (1985), Leaving Las Vegas (1995), Se7en (1995), Dead Man Walking (1995), Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003), and the Toy Story trilogy (1995 – 2010).
On television, he appeared in Miami Vice, The Simpsons, Family Guy, and a ton of other animated shows. He was also the star of his own reality shows.
Above all that, though, Ermey created one of the most iconic performances in the history of cinema as Gny. Sgt Hartman in director Stanley Kubrick’s 1987 masterpiece Full Metal Jacket. In fact, you could argue Ermey’s performance is the most iconic of that particular decade.
And yet… Watch right here on Sunday night as Hollywood blacklists Ermey for holding unacceptable political beliefs:
I don’t want to be in the business of naming all those who were honored Sunday night even though they are objectively less deserving than Ermey. Hey, God bless them, they all deserve it, as did those mentioned above, like Sondra Locke and Verne Troyer. In a three-plus hour show, this is where these bastards choose to cut?
Ermey is different, though, an iconic presence and voice who was a welcome part of our lives for decades. The Academy’s snub is inexplicable — unless you look at the fact that Ermey was a proud and open Republican and defender of the 2nd Amendment.
Here is TCM’s annual In Memoriam tribute, which has never engaged in blacklisting. Naturally, Ermey receives his due:
P.S. Forget about the politics for a moment and just compare the Oscar tribute to the TCM tribute — look at the quality of the work, which one is the most moving and compelling. How is it that a cable network simply blows away the Motion Picture Academy every year?
The Academy has access to the finest editors in the world, and their In Memoriam segment is bland, lifeless, hollow-eyed, and dull. Meanwhile, year after year after year, TCM wrenches our hearts.
The Oscars are broken forever.
Follow John Nolte on Twitter @NolteNC. Follow his Facebook Page here.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and British Prime Minister Theresa May in Brussels | Olivier Hoslet/EPA
European Commission wants UK to pay Brexit costs — in euros
Brussels wants the UK to pay all related costs and bear the currency risk, according to draft negotiating directives.
The European Commission wants Britain to pick up the tab for any costs related to its departure from the EU, such as the relocation of agencies now hosted by the U.K., and bear the currency risk by paying in euros, according to a draft of Brussels’ negotiating plan.
The hard line for the Brexit talks, laid out in a draft of the Commission’s detailed negotiating directives obtained by POLITICO, also includes tight protections for EU citizens and the EU budget, robust legal controls for any transitional phase for U.K. withdrawal, and clear guarantees for businesses whose goods go on the market before the “divorce” is finalized.
But it is the Commission’s approach to the U.K.’s ongoing financial obligations to the EU that stands out in the document, suggesting that Brussels wants to make it very clear that leaving the bloc doesn’t come cheap.
“The United Kingdom should fully cover the specific costs related to the withdrawal process such as the relocation of the agencies or other Union bodies,” the Commission wrote, adding that the U.K.’s financial obligations to the EU “should be defined in euro” rather than sterling.
The Commission’s directives, which will provide a careful roadmap for the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, can only be adopted once leaders of the remaining 27 EU member countries have approved broader guidelines now being developed by the European Council. The 27 will meet to discuss those guidelines at an extraordinary summit in Brussels on April 29.
But even as the Council’s draft guidelines were being revised and reviewed by diplomats in Brussels and in capitals across the Continent, officials at the Commission have been hard at work on the more detailed directives, under the close supervision of Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, his chief of staff, Martin Selmayr, as well as Barnier and his team.
The document is likely to enliven discussions between Juncker and Prime Minister Theresa May when they meet next Wednesday in London.
In a reflection of the bureaucratic labyrinth of EU operations that the U.K. hopes to escape, the Commission’s thinking was drafted in a document titled “Non Paper on Key Elements Likely to Feature in the Draft Negotiating Directives.”
The start of the formal negotiations could now face slight delays because of May’s decision to hold snap national election in Britain on June 8, EU diplomats have generally taken the view that the U.K.’s election timeline should not alter the planning and preparations in Brussels or the drafting of legal instructions to Barnier and his team.
One European Council official said that the Commission’s legal paper on the negotiating directives and the draft guidelines will be agreed and published before the British election campaign heats up. The official said that major changes were not expected as a result of the U.K. election.
But at least one EU government has expressed concern about hardening the EU’s negotiation positions before the results of the June 8 vote. Such concerns are certain to be discussed at a General Affairs Council meeting next Thursday, where diplomats will meet to prepare for the summit on April 29.
Part of the concern is that issuing any formal negotiating positions could be seen as prejudging the outcome of the U.K. vote or even meddling in the election, in which opinion polls show an overwhelming advantage for May’s Conservatives. Already some senior officials in Brussels have expressed hope that the election will give May the strong mandate she needs to silence some hard-line Brexiteers, which could help reach an agreement on an orderly withdrawal more quickly.
The Commission’s draft, obtained by POLITICO, closely tracks the priorities of the emerging Council guidelines, including a strong emphasis on citizens’ rights. “The withdrawal agreement should provide the necessary comprehensive, effective, enforceable and non-discriminatory guarantees for those citizens’ rights,” the Commission wrote.
Like the Council’s guidelines, the Commission’s draft directives pointedly insist on settling the terms of the U.K.’s withdrawal before turning to the framework of a future relationship, presumably an expansive free-trade agreement.
The Commission document also underscores the excruciating level of detail that will be required to prevent chaos when the U.K. leaves the EU. For instance, the Commission wants to be sure that businesses will not have to recall commercial goods put on the market prior to the U.K.’s withdrawal date.
“The Agreement should ensure that any good lawfully placed on the market of the Union on the basis of Union law before the withdrawal date can remain on the market/be used for the first time/put into service after that date both in the United Kingdom and in the EU27 under the conditions set out in the relevant Union law applicable before the withdrawal date,” the Commission wrote.
And the Commission wants to be sure that no legal loopholes or gray areas are created during the divorce process, saying in the document for example that the eventual deal “should ensure the continued application of the rules of Union law relating to choices of forum and choices of law made before the withdrawal date.”
Former NFL player Colin Kaepernick publicly thanked pop star Rihanna for boycotting the Super Bowl on social media Monday.
In a series of posts to her Instagram, Rihanna mocked people who watched the Super Bowl, posted a picture of former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeling, and wrote, “for those of you who thought I was watchin super bowl…we beefin.”
Kaepernick responded to her boycott with a message of appreciation.
Rapper Cardi B declined an opportunity to perform at the Super Bowl over the NFL’s treatment of Kaepernick as well.
“I got to sacrifice a lot of money to perform. But there’s a man who sacrificed his job for us, so we got to stand behind him,” she said last week.
Rihanna made headlines in November after accusing the U.S. of “terrorism” after Border Patrol used tear gas against migrants trying to storm the border.
The 30-year-old also threatened President Trump over the usage of her song “Don’t Stop the Music” at his rallies.
“[M]e nor my people would ever be at or around one of those tragic rallies,” she said in November.
In a letter sent to the White House, her attorneys wrote, “It has come to our attention that President Trump has utilized [Rihanna’s] musical compositions and master recordings, including her hit track ‘Don’t Stop the Music,’ in connection with a number of political events held across the United States.”
“As you are or should be aware, Ms. Fenty has not provided her consent to Mr. Trump to use her music. Such use is therefore improper.”
The former frontman believes a prolific performer looking for the exits at Parc des Princes should be taken to Old Trafford in the next window
Manchester United should be looking to bring in “goal machine” Edinson Cavani when the summer transfer window opens, says Robin van Persie.
The prolific Paris Saint-Germain striker came close to securing a move away from France in January.
He was, however, to see the deadline pass with no deal put in place.
More teams
That has kept the door open for the likes of United to piece together a suitable package which will entice the experienced Uruguayan to England.
Van Persie feels the Red Devils should be doing all they can to land Cavani as he is a proven performer at the very highest level.
United are said to still be in the market for another frontman, having only taken Odion Ighalo on loan over the winter, and PSG’s all-time leading goalscorer could be the man they turn to.
Quizzed on who he would target if calling the shots at Old Trafford, former Red Devils striker Van Persie told SPORTbible: “Edinson Cavani. I would definitely go for Cavani; he’s very fit, he’s a proven goalscorer, a goal machine, he has proven it at Napoli, PSG and Uruguay.
“With him, if he starts, he will get you 25 goals a season. I’ve watched him play, I’ve played against him, he is like a proper goalscorer. He lives by scoring goals so I’d go for him.”
It is not just in the final third of the field, though, that Van Persie feels United should be looking to add.
A big-money deal was done for Bruno Fernandes in January, and the Portugal international midfielder has settled quickly in new surroundings to offer an immediate return on the faith shown in him.
Questions do, however, continue to be asked of Paul Pogba’s future and Van Persie feels another creative influence will be required in order to take Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side forward.
The Dutchman added: “Maybe one midfielder in a playmaker role.
“Though to be fair I watched Bruno Fernandes against Chelsea and he looks very good to me, very silky.
“But I would add one other one to put next to him, then with one player who stops the opponent attacking, that is what I like to see. I like to play with five attacking, creative-minded players.”
Fernandes starred for United on his most recent outing, as Watford were swept aside 3-0, and the Red Devils are very much back in the hunt for a top-four finish and Champions League qualification which would make future recruitment easier.
David Davis and Michel Barnier in Brussels on July 17 | Thierry Charlier/AFP via Getty Images
Michel Barnier: ‘Fundamental divergence’ with UK over post-Brexit rights of citizens
The EU chief Brexit negotiator said that the negotiators were ‘moving forward in a common direction.’
Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, said Thursday there was a “fundamental divergence” with the British negotiating team over the way that the rights of EU citizens in the U.K. would be guaranteed and that he needed clarity from Britain on its position on the Brexit bill.
At a press conference at the end of the first substantive round of Brexit talks, he said: “We are now all moving forward in a common direction.” But he and his opposite number, the U.K. Brexit Secretary David Davis, reported little progress in the talks on the U.K.’s withdrawal from the EU.
Barnier complained that Britain had still not made clear its views on some crucial, central issues, particularly the financial settlement.
“I said last week that I wanted to identify the points where we agree and the points where we disagree,” Barnier said. “This was possible this week for the issues on which there was a clear British position.”
But he said there was not sufficient clarity from the Brits. “A clarification of the UK position is indispensable,” he said.
A senior EU official told POLITICO, “The EU never asked that we establish figures to be included in the bill — we need a methodology which gives enough trust and clarity to the 27 [remaining EU member states].”
The official said that the EU had provided a, “detailed legal analysis underpinning a list of obligations which need to be included in the financial settlement—the UK was not in a position to present its legal analyses,” adding it was positive that the U.K. had acknowledged it would need to pay something.
“The point of convergence is the recognition of obligations surviving the withdrawal. But this is something we need to work on.”
On the issue of the rights of EU citizens living in the U.K. post Brexit, Barnier said, “There does remain one fundamental divergence on the way on which such rights would be guaranteed and on other points such as the rights of future family members and the export of certain benefits.”
He said that he placed “fundamental importance” on the role of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to guarantee the rights of citizens, calling it “an obligation not a choice.”
Davis said the talks had been conducted “constructively and at pace,” but he said “we shouldn’t expect incremental progress in every round.”
“I am pleased by the progress we have made [on the citizens rights issue],” he said.
“We’ve also agreed to publishing a joint paper today which sets out the many areas of convergence … We agree on the need for certainty on the part of citizens … We obviously have different views about how we achieve that,” Davis said.
The Brexit secretary described the talks as “robust but constructive” but added that, “clearly there’s a lot left to talk about.”