LONDON — A top aide to EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier confirmed Brussels would prefer to negotiate a full-package trade deal — rather than the series of mini-deals preferred by the U.K. — comparing it to ravioli.
Stefaan De Rynck, who is an adviser to the chief Brexit negotiator on the EU side, said the bloc will seek to hammer out an “overarching institutional framework,” with each part of the deal bound together.
The U.K. has indicated it wants to make individual deals in different sectors — a move that could lead to tensions among EU member countries over their varying priorities. But the EU aims to have one all-inclusive deal in the hope that all elements of the package are conditional on the others.
Addressing a University College London event about the future of Brexit on Wednesday night, De Rynck argued that the agreement from 2019 roughly outlining future relations between the two sides favored the EU approach.
“In terms of the singular agreement or salami kind of agreement, I prefer this kind of pasta where everything is integrated as a main course,” he said.
“Therefore I think we have an agreement with the U.K. that will go for an overarching institutional framework where chapters and agreements are linked.” He added: “That is in the Political Declaration that we have agreed with the U.K.”
De Rynck also warned Boris Johnson not to “backslide” on his commitments in the WithdrawRead More – Source
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