There are just two weeks, it is now confirmed, to stop the UK sliding off a Brexit precipice. But the two men charged with rescuing the situation still cannot even agree about which cliff edge they are standing on.

Michel Barnier and David Davis waved courteously but appeared further apart than ever at the press conference to review their sixth, heavily truncated round of talks in Brussels on Friday.

The only thing they came close to agreeing on was that time was now running very short. Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, said that unless the UK showed “sincere and real” willingness within a fortnight to settle its debts in full, there would be zero chance of beginning the transition talks this year as British business so desperately needs. Davis, the Brexit secretary, could only nod and acknowledge that this insurmountable wall was a “commission construct”.

But the more worrying development from the perspective of all those hoping for a path out of this mess was that both men spent almost the entirety of their press conference describing very different views of the landscape ahead.

Q&A What is a hard Brexit? Show A hard Brexit would take Britain out of the EU’s single market and customs union and ends its obligations to respect the four freedoms, make big EU budget payments and accept the jurisdiction of the ECJ: what Brexiters mean by “taking back control” of Britain’s borders, laws and money. It would mean a return of trade tariffs, depending on what (if any) FTA was agreed. See our full Brexit phrasebook.

For Davis, it was time to get out of the stale air of the European commission’s Berlaymont headquarters and call in Europe’s statesmen and women for help. “This is now about moving into the political discussions which will allow both of us to move forward,” he said. “We will continue to negotiate and engage constructively, but we need to see creativity and flexibility on both sides.”



Unfortunately, as far as Barnier was concerned, these were not negotiations at all but the equivalent of seeking a visa stamp at the border. “We are not asking for concessions, nor are we planning to offer any ourselves, we are working on facts,” he said. “We want to bring back legal certainty where Brexit has created uncertainty and a fair amount of concern.”

Davis, as if unsure of his translation headset, repeated: “Now it is time for both sides to move to seek solutions. This is a serious business, it will require creativity from both sides.”

If it sounds like they are talking in different languages, it is because they are. Barnier is speaking fluent legalese; Davis attempting to master realpolitik.

Even the British political establishment now expects it will be Davis and Theresa May who are forced to blink first. The consensus in Westminster is that the prime minister will be forced to add an urgent addendum to her Florence speech. Britain will not just honour its existing EU budget liabilities but also its future obligations – known in the jargon as reste à liquider – which could bring the total cost of divorce close to the €60bn sought in Brussels.

This bitter pill will be sweetened only with a dollop of conciliatory talk about transitions, implementation and standstill phases.

Neither side will do anything as grubby as talk euros and cents, but the press – and May’s Brexiter critics – will almost certainly fill in the blanks and make clear the scale of the climbdown.

Then the real problems begin. In order to explain why she is prepared to write such a big cheque, May will be forced to explain what she thinks she can get after this process. What is she buying? It will then become clear that we don’t know yet. At best, this is a commitment to talk about a trade deal. It is a long way from the seamless replication of existing privileges that our prime minister once promised would be Britain’s for nothing.