Anyway, it seems that Barnier/the EC is upset about a remark by M Gove that we should accept Chequers because a subsequent UK Government could unpick any bits it didn't like afterwards, once we had definitely left. Seems quite sensible to me (I never thought I would say that about Gove), but ,says the Times, M Barnier is cross:
We won’t let future PM unpick Brexit deal, vows Michel Barnier
The bugger wants to control the future too: 'Brussels is preparing to demand that Theresa May makes “credible”
assurances that any deal will not be unpicked by her successor.' This would also involve quite a major change in the whole UK political setup:
Sabine Weyand, a senior German European Commission official and Mr Barnier’s deputy, warned that Britain’s unwritten constitution could spring unpleasant surprises on the EU. “The commission said to be careful because it was not clear what ‘miracles’ UK constitutional law could allow,” a diplomatic note giving an account of the talks on September 12 said. “It would be possible that [the EU] accepted painful compromises to avoid a failure and then the UK would want to continue negotiating because suddenly it’s possible again.”
I am no constitutional expert, but I understood that there was a principle (unwritten, of course) that no Prime Minister could bind their successor. Indeed it would be pretty odd if that were the case because that would severely limit the terms of any general election manifestos. No matter -- the EC probably wants a new rule-bound constitution for us as yet another last-minute 'obstacle' to a deal. And that's if we are out! God knows what it would want if we were still in!
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