Brexit divorce agreement collapses after Raab and Barnier meet

EU ambassadors were updated by the EU negotiator Sunday evening.

The European Commission's Berlaymont building | Olivier Hoslet/EPA

A tentative deal on the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement reached at technical level in Brussels Sunday collapsed following a meeting between EU negotiator Michel Barnier and his U.K. counterpart Dominic Raab.

An EU diplomat said that Barnier would make a statement about the state of play in the talks Sunday evening after updating EU ambassadors.

Indications that a tentative deal at negotiator level was close began to emerge mid-afternoon Sunday, when the U.K.’s Department for Exiting the EU released a statement that Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab would make an unscheduled trip to Brussels.

“With several big issues still to resolve, including the Northern Ireland backstop, it was jointly agreed that face-to-face talks were necessary ahead of this week’s October European Council,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

Subsequently, EU diplomats said a meeting of EU ambassadors had been scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Sunday evening. Three EU diplomats said the meeting was intended to allow ambassadors early sight of the divorce deal, but after the meeting between Barnier and Raab, an EU official said the EU negotiator would update them on the U.K.’s remaining objections.

“When we say there are big issues to resolve, that remains the case” — U.K. official

One EU diplomat earlier stressed that the deal “is at negotiator level [only],” so much could still change. Last week, diplomats were told a deal had been done by negotiators only for it to unravel amid continuing talks.

A European Commission official declined to comment, saying only: “Talks are ongoing.”

A U.K. official said: “It’s wide of the mark to say a deal has been reached. It really hasn’t. When we say there are big issues to resolve, that remains the case.”

Barnier later tweeted, “We met today [Dominic Raab] and UK negotiating team. Despite intense efforts, some key issues are still open, including the backstop for IE/NI to avoid a hard border.” He added that he would debrief the EU27 and the European Parliament on the state of the talks.

Diplomats cautioned that any deal could be blocked by ministers in London or potentially by the Democratic Unionist Party, which votes with Theresa May’s ruling Conservative Party in the House of Commons.

The agreement is due to be discussed by EU leaders Wednesday night at a European Council summit dinner. Only at that point does it have signoff on the EU side.

The diplomats who said a deal had been struck were cautious, and one expressed particular concerns about how the package would be received in the U.K. May has struggled from the outset to navigate her Brexit strategy through the warring camps and interest groups: hard and soft Brexiteers, Remainers, and hardcore unionists, citizens rights’ advocates and business and industry concerns.

But even if some details were not nailed down, the flurry of activity over the weekend underscores the intensity with which negotiators are pushing to show major gains in the negotiations before the Wednesday European Council summit.

EU leaders have said that only if there are signs of such progress would they schedule another special summit in November focused on Brexit. After this week’s meeting, EU leaders are not officially scheduled to gather again until December.

Even if the agreement on divorce terms — including the fraught issue of the Northern Ireland border — passes muster with EU leaders and the U.K. Cabinet, negotiators must still agree the “political declaration,” which will lay out the U.K.’s future relationship with the EU.

Theresa May is also facing considerable opposition to the nascent deal in the House of Commons from Brexiteers in her own party and the Democratic Unionist Party.

In an op-ed for the Sunday Times, former Brexit Secretary David Davis called on Cabinet ministers to “exert their collective authority” to kill off the deal because it would not allow the U.K. sufficient trade freedoms.

Tom McTague contributed reporting.

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