In der Graun today, some old human friends, and some familiar phrases:
But with the clock ticking to 31 December, when the status quo transition is due to end, Boris Johnson’s official spokesman conceded that hopes of a deal were dwindling.
Both sides are reported but the last word, as ever, is given to the EC:
Insiders [who might they be?] say the UK is trying to “cherry pick” and claiming it would be happy with a “bare bones” deal, while making sizeable asks [yech] across the 11 sections of the negotiations which, when put together, amount to a deal of substance....
An old complaint resurfaces as well as the ticking clock:
“The UK has not presented new legal texts in the area of fisheries,” a spokesman for Barnier [!] said. “We have been engaging constructively and in good faith. Michel Barnier said at the end of the last round of negotiations that we have shown flexibility by taking note of prime minister Johnson’s three red lines and working on them. We have not seen, however, a reciprocal effort on the UK’s side regarding European priorities. We are now waiting for the UK to present concrete and constructive proposals.”
Although there is still the most unexpected kind of sticking point:
Johnson’s government is reluctant to cede any control over state aid policy, boasting during last year’s election campaign that one benefit of Brexit would be that the government could intervene more readily to help struggling UK businesses.
And an unusual appeal for sympathy for hard-working EC bureaucrats:
...a senior UK official close to talks [not Sir Olly, surely?] has previously revealed that the EU is not keen on a “Switzerland-style suite of agreements”, in reference to the 100-plus bilateral deals the country has with Brussels, as it “would be too complicated to manage for them”.
Elsewhere, R Behr returns from his August break. No recurrence of Brexit-related heart problems we hope. It is a new practical man-of-action Behr. Away with principles, sensibilities, high principles:
Even if he believes Eurosceptic fantasies, the prime minister should balk at the political cost of talks ending in failure
The UK warns that Brussels underestimates Johnson’s readiness to walk away from the table. That is still the preferred option for a faction of ardent Europhobe Tories, but they cannot be sure of the prime minister’s nerve....Tory complaints that Brussels isn’t paying enough attention to their sabre-rattling are proof that Johnson’s sabre isn’t quite as big as he makes out....
Now there is the additional factor of economic debilitation by the coronavirus [legs for this old stuff] Johnson’s macho readiness to inflict gratuitous pain on his country [?] does not weigh on EU minds as much as British negotiators seem to think it should....even if the prime minister is persuaded that a deal, any deal, is what he needs, he could bungle the choreography, overplay the flouncing theatrics. EU patience is not infinite and time is running out [let's check to see i f the clock is still ticking?]...
Behr's new realism goes further:
The main obstacle to a deal is UK rejection of any obligation to shadow regulatory standards set in Brussels. Brexiteers see that as a stain on national sovereignty, which is true, but dilution of sovereignty is the price that the smaller party in a negotiation pays for access to the market of the bigger one.
Might as well just roll over then. But wait:
The fear is that Brussels will thwart UK plans to subsidise its way to competitive advantage in fledgling sectors of the economy. The vision, theorised by Dominic Cummings, is of a hyper-adaptable British state, crucible of a new industrial revolution in artificial intelligence, genomics and hi-tech wizardry yet to be invented.
The struggle, as ever for Graudinaistsas, is over 'the narrative':
There might be some mileage in blaming a blockade by beastly continentals, but that won’t erase memories of Johnson claiming a deal would be an “oven-ready” doddle. Failure to make the foreign oven work is still failure...
There are a few Celtic straws to clutch at:
Downing Street also worries that a disorderly Brexit will stoke Scottish nationalism in the run-up to Holyrood elections in May. An orderly one wouldn’t much diminish the demand for independence
No words of hard-won wisdom for Scots sabre-rattlers here, no reminder of their weakness faced with a bigger market, no problems with Sturgeon's ego or her fantasised nationalist narrative.
Overall, though Behr worries it will even end well for Johnson, even at the expense of ambivalence about a deal. As a good journo, he wants to prepare the ground for a narrative even there. While keeping his options open, of course:
[A compromise deal would offer an] attractive path to a lazy man who cares above all about tomorrow’s headlines and the optics of success. That doesn’t guarantee there will be a deal. But if there isn’t one, it will be an accident of inattention, not the fruition of some cunning plan.
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