Brussels has made Brexit negotiations "unnecessarily difficult" by insisting that the UK signs up to state aid and fisheries rules, David Frost has warned.
The UK’s chief negotiator said that “any further substantive work” was being delayed by Brussels’ creating roadblocks out of the two particular areas of concern.
It comes as Mr Frost’s EU’s counterpart Michel Barnier accused the British Government of “wasting valuable time” in trade talks with the European Union. After the seventh round of Brexit talks ended in deadlock, a senior negotiating official for the UK insisted that "it's not us that's slowing it down".
The source said: “The process block now is the EU’s insistence that we must accept their position on state aid and fisheries before we can talk about anything else. We’re obviously not going to do that.
“We are ready to talk about everything and it's not us that’s slowing things down.”
The official said that EU negotiators were “still insisting that we must accept arrangements that are rather like the Commons Fisheries Policy”.
EU negotiators have demanded a status quo deal, which would allow their fleet the same access to UK waters as if Britain was not leaving the CFP, while Britain has demanded a Norway-style fishing deal with annual negotiations on fishing quotas.
“It’s in their hands to move to a more realistic position that recognises us as an independent coastal state,” the UK source added. The seventh round of free trade negotiations were overshadowed by rows over migration and the rights of British haulage firms to operate inside the EU single market.
Road haulage is one policy area that has repeatedly been singled out by the EU's chief Brexit negotiator where the UK is trying to obtain "single market-like benefits".
“Why should we give access to our roads to road transport firms, which would not be subject to the same rules in terms of minimum standards and safety?", Mr Barnier asked.
“The need for a level playing field is not going to go away,” he added. “It is a non-negotiable precondition to grant access to our market.”
There has also been little progress on the UK Government's calls to carve out a new arrangement by which it can send unwanted migrants back to Europe from 2021.
Downing Street wants to replace the "inflexible and rigid" Dublin regulation which states that migrants should have their asylum claim examined in the first EU country they enter.
Brussels diplomats have suggested the issue could be held back for future leverage in negotiations.
"Without a deal on the future relationship between the EU and the UK, the chances for an agreement on migration are rather slim,” said one senior EU diplomat.
"You may like it or not, but Brexit means Brexit."
However, a senior UK official said the real reason there had been no progress on the issue was because of internal conflict between the EU’s 27 nations.
A senior UK negotiating official said an agreement had not been found because there "isn't agreement inside the EU on this".
"We were open to agreeing a returns agreement with the EU and we’ve been continually suggesting that," they said. In an effort to break the impasse Mr Frost presented a draft free trade agreement during a private dinner with Mr Barnier this week.
“It was a very nice dinner and as always we had courteous and friendly discussions in which we don't hide the significant differences between our positions,” a UK official said. Mr Frost conceded after the latest set of talks that a deal would "not be easy to achieve", a sentiment matched by his counterpart.
“Too often this week it felt as if we were going backwards more than forwards,” Mr Barnier told reporters in Brussels.
“I simply do not understand why we are wasting valuable time. At this stage, an agreement between the UK and the EU remains unlikely.”
https://uk.news.yahoo.com/brussels-making-brexit-negotiations-unnecessarily-174719018.html
