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EU Baffled by Johnson Strategy, Sees Brexit Talks as Pretense

EU Baffled by Johnson Strategy, Sees Brexit Talks as Pretense

(Bloomberg) --

The European Union still doesn’t know whether Boris Johnson is bluffing when he says he wants to leave the bloc with a deal, according to officials close to the Brexit negotiations.

EU diplomats described talks between Johnson’s EU envoy David Frost and the European Commission, focused on changes to the Brexit agreement reached in November but rejected three times by the U.K. Parliament, as a pretense and a waste of time.

The British side hasn’t presented any proposals for replacing the contentious backstop measure designed to prevent a hard border in Ireland, which Johnson has said must be removed if there’s to be a deal.

As EU officials watch the political turmoil in London, they say they’re unclear whether the government is running down the clock to a no-deal exit, or if it genuinely wants to find a compromise. Two officials said there appeared to be tension in Johnson’s team on the issue.

The bloc has softened its tone in recent weeks, saying it’s now open to replacing the backstop -- which would keep the U.K. aligned to EU customs and trading rules -- with something else. But European Council President Donald Tusk said it’s for the U.K. to come up with “ideas that are operational, realistic and acceptable to all member states, including Ireland.”

Looming Election

The prospect of a general election in the U.K. could confuse things further. Negotiations almost certainly won’t continue in the weeks of campaigning, officials said. That would potentially leave a window of just over two weeks between a poll on Oct. 15 and the U.K.’s scheduled exit on Oct. 31.

Opposition and rebel Conservative MPs have further muddied the water by approving legislation forcing the prime minister to seek a further Brexit delay if there’s no deal with Brussels.

The government is to make a second attempt on Monday to force an early general election, after failing in a bid to get the approval of Parliament on Wednesday. Johnson said on Thursday a national vote is the only way of resolving the country’s political crisis.

Johnson wants to remove several parts of the deal struck between his predecessor, Theresa May, and the EU, according to an official briefed on Wednesday’s negotiations in Brussels.

British Demands

Frost told the European Commission that the government wants to:

  • Strip out many articles of the contentious Irish border backstop, leaving only the provisions on citizens’ rights, the common travel area on the island of Ireland and the island’s single electricity market. Frost didn’t say what the U.K. wants in its place to prevent a hard border, according to the official.
  • Remove references in the political declaration on the U.K.’s future relationship with the bloc to the “level playing field,” which would keep the U.K. aligned to many of the EU’s standards in areas such as competition, environmental protection and taxation. The EU says this is necessary for an ambitious free-trade agreement.
  • Change the way the agreement would be governed to take out references to the European Court of Justice. The EU said this would affect future police and judicial cooperation.

A U.K. spokesman said Wednesday’s talks were “constructive” and will resume on Friday. But EU officials said it isn’t clear what the point would be of meeting again so soon -- other than to give the impression of progress.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ian Wishart in Brussels at iwishart@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Stuart Biggs, Thomas Penny

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