From August 28th to 31st, a new round of discussions was held between Michel Barnier and David Davis, the chief negotiators for the European Union and the United Kingdom regarding Brexit. Progress was expected on issues such as the future of the border between the two Irelands, the status of Europeans residing in the United Kingdom, the amount of money London owes as a “settlement,” and the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) over the United Kingdom after Brexit.
However, as Mr. Barnier indicated on August 31st, “no decisive progress on the main issues” was made, which prevents the initiation of discussions regarding future relations between the United Kingdom and the EU.
Faced with the rising risk of not reaching an agreement by the deadline of March 2019, Theresa May’s British government, which had been rather assertive since the beginning of the negotiations, has recently softened its positions. Indeed, the establishment of a transition period after 2019 is now being discussed.
Similarly, the possibility of creating an arbitration system, in which the CJEU would be a stakeholder, has been proposed by London—a perspective previously unimaginable for the United Kingdom.
In this regard, Michel Barnier has expressed his willingness to “intensify” the pace of meetings with his British counterpart.
