Downing Street refuses to rip up Internal Market Bill despite EU demands

Prime Minister's official spokesman says there is 'no change in our position' and that legislation provides 'vital safety net'

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Brussels threatened Britain with legal action but refused to walk out of trade negotiations on Monday after the UK Government rejected EU demands for changes in the Internal Market Bill

The European Commission had set London a deadline of midnight on Wednesday to excise provisions in the Bill relating to Northern Ireland which override the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement. 

"Those clauses will remain in that Bill," Michael Gove said after meeting Maroš Šefčovič, the commission vice-president, in Brussels.

Mr Šefčovič told him the Bill was an "extremely serious violation" of the Brexit divorce treaty and international law, and that the EU would retaliate. 

The Prime Minister' official spokesman said: "The Bill has been supported by the House of Commons (as shown in the video below) and will continue its passage through the House of Lords." He added that there was "no change in our position", with the legislation providing a "vital safety net" for Northern Ireland

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Ursula von der Leyen, the commission president, had warned earlier this month that respect for the divorce treaty was a "prerequisite" for any free trade agreement with Brussels. 

Speaking ahead of this week's ninth round of talks in Brussels, Mr Šefčovič (seen voicing the commission's concerns about the Bill in the video below) said the EU would not end the trade negotiations.

"It's very important to say, to underline, that it could never be the EU which would cause the end of the negotiation of the future partnership between the EU and UK," he told reporters.

"We would use every single opportunity, every minute of our negotiating time to agree and find the ambitious agreement for the partnership between the EU and the UK.

"The Withdrawal Agreement contains a number of mechanisms and legal remedies to address the violation of the legal obligations contained in the text, and I underscored that the EU will not be shy in using them."

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The commission can use dispute mechanisms in the Brexit treaty or sue the UK in the European Court of Justice, both of which could result in large fines. 

The effort to decouple the row from the trade negotiations comes ahead of a crunch week for the talks if there is to be any chance of finalising a free trade agreement by the October deadline. 

Downing Street said "significant gaps" remained between the two sides, with the PM's official spokesman saying: "From the start of this process, we have been saying that we simply want a standard free trade agreement like Canada's.

"The EU's position has been less straightforward, and we continue to be asked to accept provisions which do not reflect the reality of our status as an independent country. Significant gaps remain, as the EU still needs to adopt more realistic policy positions, but we are ready to work as hard as necessary to move things forward this week."

It was reported that Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator, had last week rebuffed a British call to enter a negotiating "tunnel". Chief UK negotiator David Frost had wanted to hold the secret talks, which operate under a media blackout, after this week's negotiations and before the October 15 EU summit, which coincides with Boris Johnson's deadline for the deal

Mr Barnier ruled out the "tunnel talks" until the UK moves on state aid, fishing and the governance system enforcing the new relationship. He said his deadline was October 31, broadcaster RTE said. 

Finalising the agreement by the European Council would allow EU leaders to give their blessing to the deal and leave enough time to ratify it before the end of the transition period on December 31. The UK and the EU will trade on WTO terms, with quotas and tariffs, if no deal is agreed before the end of the year. 

The bloc’s heads of state and government will meet in Brussels this week and be given an update on the week's negotiations and the Internal Market Bill row. They will also discuss their planning for no deal. 

"In the aftermath of the referendum, the result shook the European Union," said Charles Michel, the president of the European Council. "Today, what is it? It is the United Kingdom that faces our quiet strength.

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