We have known the EU negotiating guidelines since 29th April this year. Having failed to get anywhere in persuading Michel Barnier and The Commission to discuss trade issues alongside the withdrawal terms, we apparently launched a secret charm offensive (HERE) and invited EU 27 ambassadors to presentations in London on August 17th and 24th to set out our position papers. Apparently, the meetings did not go well with questions being raised about ambiguity and a lack of clarity. When some ambassadors asked for more details we were unable to oblige. And having promised a paper on the financial settlement, we fail to provide one.
We then ask for one to one meetings with Macron and Merkel (HERE). This was bound to upset Michel Barnier, to say nothing of the other 25 countries who will think we regard their opinions as worthless. It reveals the weakness of our position and our obvious worry that trade is going to suffer after March 2019.
So, having shown our weak hand, the one to one meetings have now been rejected (HERE) anyway and we've achieved nothing - beyond learning that our negotiator Davis is totally out of his depth and the position papers are actually a meaningless sham.
Let me make a prediction. In a few weeks we will have to start taking the EU seriously and follow their guidelines. We will have to discuss money and reach an agreement on the method of calculating it, if not committing to an actual number at this stage. By this time we will have lost several months of the precious twenty four, we will have no chance whatsoever of reaching any kind of deal on trade in the time left - if that option ever existed, we will be absolutely desperate for a transitional period and therefore we'll agree to anything. And perhaps most importantly, we will look weak and stupid.
