THE BEST A BARNIER CAN DO

Summary of EU’s latest position on Brexit

Unelected EU Chief Brexit Negotiator, Michel Barnier, on TV last month

Yesterday the EU resorted to communication by Tweet

Yesterday afternoon Michel Barnier, “Chef de la négociation avec le Royaume-Uni @EU_Commission, patriote et européen”, gave an address to the EU27 Ambassadors and representatives of the EU Parliament.

As is common in the wonderful world of the EU, we can find no official record of this unscheduled meeting. Not even Guy Verhofstadt mentioned it, and yet one would have expected him to have been there as the EU Parliament’s chief representative. Perhaps he was too busy parading his feminist credentials.

'The Goof goofs again' - Guy Verhofstadt MEP yesterday

We can, however, bring you what Monsieur Barnier announced after the meeting, because he tweeted it.

There’s no official record on the EU’s “Taskforce on Article 50” part of its website of course. Just a series of tweets from M.Barnier giving the latest position on one of the most serious issues for the entire European Union.

WHAT BARNEY SAID YESTERDAY

NOTE: We have replaced initials or Twitter links with text, to aid understanding,
and have put in links to official documents referred to by Mr Barnier.

“I briefed EU27 Ambassadors and [EU Parliament] today on the ongoing talks with UK. Following the EU-UK statement of 20 Feb, the EU has proposed to the UK a legally binding interpretation of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement. Most importantly:

“The arbitration panel can already, under Article 178 [of the Withdrawal Agreement] , give UK the right to a proportionate suspension of its obligations under the backstop, as a last resort, if EU breaches its best endeavours/good faith obligations to negotiate alternative solutions.

“EU ready to give legal force to all commitments from January letter of [EU Council President Tusk] and [EU Commission President Juncker] through joint interpretative statement. This will render best endeavour/good faith obligations even more actionable by an arbitration panel.

“EU commits to give UK the option to exit the Single Customs Territory unilaterally, while the other elements of the backstop must be maintained to avoid a hard border. UK will not be forced into customs union against its will.

“The EU will continue working intensively over the coming days to ensure that the UK leaves the EU with an agreement.”

- Michel Barnier, EU Chief Brexit Negotiator, 08 Mar 2019

What does this mean?

There is no change in the EU’s position. Barnier simply reminds everyone that an earlier option was to split the United Kingdom even more definitively, by effectively keeping Northern Ireland as part of the EU. Under that scenario – long ago rejected by Mrs May – the mainland UK would not be part of the Customs Union, but would still have all the other EU colonial impositions.

No sovereign nation could ever accept the division of its territory by diktat of a foreign power, so Mr Barnier is being wholly disingenuous in pretending that the “UK will not be forced into customs union against its will.” For this to be true, the UK would effectively be giving up Northern Ireland completely.

Observations

No movement whatsoever by the EU. Their position continues to be that they are imposing on the British people the most draconian surrender treaty since the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.

We brought you the above because we couldn't find the full transcript of Monsieur Barnier's tweeted statement anywhere in the mainstream media, only excerpts.

Most of our focus right now is on the fight against the votes by Remainer MPs in the House of Commons next week, which look likely to determine whether we get our Brexit or not.

We are still seeking donations to our fighting fund, to re-start our paid social media campaign. This is now very urgent as we need to get it going today.

Remain campaigns are spending at the rate of £2m per annum on Facebook alone, plus whatever they're spending on Twitter and Google paid advertising.

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[Sources: Michel Barnier's Twitter account | Guy Verhofstadt's Twitter account | EU Commission Task Force pages ]

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Sat 09 Mar 2019

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Reader Comments 11

1. Concerned Expat , Saturday, March 09, 2019, 06:44:

Almost 3 years of lies, deceit and treachery is slowly but surely coming to a head. If we are not out of the evil union by 29th March 2019 then all of their nasty work has won. They will not get elected again. Maybe elections will be banned? Who knows what the conservatives are capable of, but nothing would surprise me anymore.
What a farce that some still insist on a second referendum, now even Al Gore the 'climate change' specialist.

2. Robert / Grimsby , Saturday, March 09, 2019, 08:49:

We certainly learnt at least two things in the last 2.5 years:
1. Not to trust the EU's 'good faith'.
2. The EU' 'best endeavours' are somewhat limited.

3. Scientist , Saturday, March 09, 2019, 08:52:

What a surprise; no matter what reassurances the EU tries to give us, it won't be enough for hardliner brexiteers.
You people still don't realise that you're being manipulated by the social media and websites like this.
You should try to educate yourselves with real news and not fake news.

4. Not4EU, London , Saturday, March 09, 2019, 09:38:

More fuzzy, meaningless phrases from Barmier. The only thing that counts is the legal text & that's not changing. The EU is already 're-interpreting' interpretations from the 70's to fine us for following their rules, with cases suddenly being opened. Got to keep that money flowing somehow. The rest of the abominable 'agreement' is totally ignored. Meanwhile, she who should be in a strait-jacket, threatens people with 'my deal or else we won't leave'. This is the inevitable outcome of pro-EU shills 'negotiating' our leave. Voters of the liblabcon party take note. Further treason awaits anyone who votes them back into power.
Quite simply the vote was to leave the EU.
So why is our sovereignty even being 'negotiated'? That, effectively, is what the WA is.
The only way to leave is GoWTO, then negotiate a trading deal on a level playing field & in our, not the EU's, interests. All this faff of 'maintaining EU standards' etc is the job of OUR MPs, not the EU. We could revert our fire standards back to the much higher British Standard, in which case the Grenfell tragedy would not have happened.
I note that May is now insisting that she will implement the next two EU directives after we have left, though she didn't say what they were.
The evidence seems clear that our Govt and many MPs work for the EU, not Britain. Those voting for surrender on Tuesday, or even the other blocking amendments, have absolutely no regard for democracy & are voting to end it. Actions have consequences.

5. Catherine, Dollar , Saturday, March 09, 2019, 09:45:

@Scientist, 08:52: The Facts4EU web site is all about real news and FACTS. You should read these facts. The facts come from official sources, from what I read, largely from the EU, Eurostat, EU COmmission data. I have checked the data multiple times. They are correct.
I hope you have read and digested the proposed Withdrawal Agreement. This is a good example of the EU's purpose in it. It is far more than a withdrawal agreement. Is it 'good faith' to demand that the EU & UK agree a fisheries agreement BEFORE any trade agreement is concluded? (ie we'll only do a trade agreement as long as you hand over your fisheries, waters)?

6. Concerned Expat , Saturday, March 09, 2019, 09:51:

@Scientist and Catherine Dollar, I surmise that @Scientist would not know fact from fiction.

7. A Bruce , Saturday, March 09, 2019, 11:31:

@ Scientist.
Please supply a source/sources for your supposed 'real' news so we can judge for ourselves.

8. A Bruce , Saturday, March 09, 2019, 12:50:

I was considerably heartened by this:- https://brexitcentral.com/d...

9. Scientist , Saturday, March 09, 2019, 13:20:

Well, all of you obviously haven't done as much research as I have. This site seems to be just propaganda and you all fall for it.
Why do you think that all UK and international bodies are anti-Brexit? Even our Treasury is very concerned.

10. A Bruce , Saturday, March 09, 2019, 13:44:

@ Scientist
Again - sources?

11 comments, page 1 of 2

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