As the European Council meets today, EU leaders turn on each other over Brexit negotiation tactics… Splits have been emerging among the 27 EU member states over Brexit negotiating tactics, with several smaller members indicating they want the European Commission to begin early trade talks with Britain. The European Commission, led by Jean-Claude Juncker, has been adamant that Britain must finalise a “divorce deal” costing up to €60billion before they will begin talks over the future EU-UK trade relationship…. However, senior EU diplomats from some states were last night expressing reservations about the Commission’s hardline approach… “The more we dig in [to the detail] the more terrifying it looks,” said an eastern EU diplomat… “We are ready to do parallel negotiations.”… A second EU diplomat, briefing ahead of the talks on condition of anonymity, said that Mr Barnier… did not speak with authority. “Barnier doesn’t have a mandate, so politely speaking no one should pay too much attention to what Barnier is saying,” the source said. – Daily Telegraph May to brief European leaders in Brussels as EU prepares for Brexit talks – Reuters How the Brexit divorce will play out – Politico Belgian region of Flanders wary of separate Brexit deals with large EU member states – EurActiv …as the European Commission attempts to take exclusive control of the Brexit negotiations The European Commission is to be appointed as the chief negotiator with the UK over Brexit, under a draft deal to be discussed by 27 EU leaders tomorrow. It represents a key victory for Jean-Claude Juncker’s Commission in taking control of negotiations, once a mandate is agreed. It appears to be designed to prevent British negotiators from trying to exploit divisions among different member states of the EU by approaching countries individually. The draft, obtained in full by Sky News, confirms in writing for the first time that the UK will be barred from “discussions of decisions concerning it”. – Sky News The EU has been well-organised during the phoney war period between the referendum and the expected triggering of Article 50 by the end of March 2017. But… on the eve of the European Council summit, the Parliament’s Brexit boss, Guy Verhofstadt, took the EU’s dirty washing out in Strasbourg and gave it a damn good shake… Verhofstadt was furious at being sidelined. If EU-27 leaders don’t include the MEPs, he raged, they will open up separate negotiations with the Brits. The Parliament needed to be in the room for the divorce talks from day one, he said. It would be better to have MEPs “inside the tent pissing out, than outside the tent pissing in”, he raged… Although they are far from a certainty, separate, parallel Brexit talks would be a major schism in the EU’s united front. Theresa must have been rubbing her hands with glee. – James Crisp for EurActiv Verhofstadt threatens separate Brexit talks between EU Parliament and UK – EurActiv Grave consequences if Parliament is all but excluded from EU Brexit talks – European Parliament David Davis warns the EU that border controls are not up for discussion… The Brexit Secretary made it clear that the Government will decide how its immigration system will look before presenting the option to Brussels leaders…. a clear sign that Britain intends to completely leave the EU’s freedom of movement for workers system… Speaking to MPs on the Brexit select committee, Mr Davis made clear that Brussels apparatchiks will have no say over the UK’s immigration system after EU exit… “What we have to bear in mind is we have to pay respect to the outcome of the referendum, there has got to be clear control by this Parliament.”… Asked by MPs if that would be part of the upcoming negotiations, Mr Davis said: “No I don’t. I think that the operation of that decision after we have left the EU will be in the national interest and that will affect all of us. “The judgement the Government comes to as to what is necessary for universities, what is necessary for business and what is necessary for fruit picking.” – Daily Telegraph …and is confident the Irish border will remain open following EU withdrawal… Brexit Secretary David Davis has said he is “optimistic” about maintaining an open border between Northern Ireland and the Republic following the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union. But he said he did not envisage a special arrangement for Northern Ireland and Gibraltar, which might keep the province inside the EU’s Customs Union, as part of the Brexit deal. – The Herald (£) Irish Sea border controls not ruled out by UK’s Brexit Secretary – Belfast Telegraph The House of Lords Northern Ireland report is doing Dublin’s bidding over Brexit – Ian Paisley Jr MP for News Letter …whilst saying that he would accept a transitional deal if and only if it was necessary… Answering questions from the cross-party [Exiting the European Union] committee for the first time, Mr Davis said he hoped to achieve “maximum” market access for British companies with minimum disruption. He said he would be keeping open as many negotiating options as possible… Mr Davis said a transitional arrangement meant “many things to different people”. He added: “An implementation phase? If it is necessary and only if it is necessary. But the British people want this done with some degree of expedition, they want it done properly and soon and that is what we are trying to do.” – Sky News Brexit deadline not feasible, say insiders – Politico David Davis and Philip Hammond are preparing Britain for a ‘transitional’ Brexit. What about Theresa May? – James Kirkup for the Daily Telegraph (£) A Brexit transition deal has few downsides for Britain – which is why the EU might never allow it – Professor Anand Menon for the Daily Telegraph (£) …but admitting that the UK’s negotiation plan is still being worked on Britain will not have a Brexit plan until February but should be able to complete talks within 18 months and then go through a transitional phase of leaving the EU if necessary, David Davis has said… Davis ran through four possibilities on the UK’s membership of the customs union: being fully in, fully out, a partially inside Turkish model of being inside the customs union but outside the single market, and a Swiss model of being outside the customs union but with customs arrangements. – The Guardian The UK will trigger Article 50 earlier than end of March if it can – Reuters David Davis keeps his options open over Brexit – Katy Balls for The Spectator’s Coffee House Blog “Pessimistic” UK ambassador to the EU claims a Brexit trade deal “could take 10 years” A post-Brexit UK-EU trade deal might take 10 years to finalise and still fail, Britain’s ambassador to the EU has privately told the government… In October, Sir Ivan, who conducted David Cameron’s negotiation over the UK’s relationship with the EU, advised ministers that the view of the 27 other countries was that a free trade agreement could take as long as a decade… Dominic Raab, a former minister and a Leave campaigner, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that Sir Ivan “was the diplomat who persuaded David Cameron to dilute his ambitions for the renegotiation which was one reason why the referendum was lost, so he’s been scarred by his own pessimistic advice in the past”. – BBC John Mills: Britain can Brexit in two years if politicians adopt the right can-do attitude The chancellor, along with a number of his cabinet colleagues, appears to be swinging round to the view that more than two years is going to be required for Brexit. This may be unnecessarily dangerous territory both for us and the EU 27. And it’s an unnecessarily long timetable too… Half the reason for the present prevarication is that too many Remainers are involved who are not really on side. We need more of a can-do attitude and less harping on how difficult it all is. There is clearly a case for getting the Brexit negotiations concluded as soon as possible. – John Mills for City A.M. House of Lords EU Committee report calls for early talks on Brexit plans for banks Britain must negotiate a Brexit bridging deal to avoid a “cliff edge” that forces banks to move jobs before they know what the new trading relations with the European Union will be, British lawmakers said on Thursday… “Negotiations on financial services should commence as early as possible after notification under Article 50, and the government should pursue an early announcement on a transitional period,” the report said… A bespoke trade deal with the EU could tackle flaws in the equivalence regime and mitigate loss of market access… Much of the 50-page report airs the views of banks, government ministers and the Bank of England, such as that firms may relocate to New York rather than to the continent, and Europe’s need for London’s financial services. – Reuters Report: Transitional period for financial services vital following Brexit – Parliament.uk Bank of England says finance sector needs transitional Brexit deal soon – Reuters Brexit negotiations are not a zero sum game – here’s why – Julian Harris for City A.M. The City needs a post-Brexit vision, and it needs it now – Cameron Penny for ConservativeHome Number of people out of work falls by another 16,000 as the jobs market defies dire Project Fear predictions over Brexit Ministers today hailed Britain’s record-breaking jobs market after the latest data showed another fall in unemployment. The number of people out of work fell by 16,000 in October to 1.62million, leaving the UK unemployment rate at just 4.8 per cent – one of the lowest in Europe. There were 31.76million people in work between July and October, 342,000 more than a year earlier but 6,000 lower than May to July. The number of EU nationals working in Britain rose again, increasing by 221,000 to 2.26million. Non-EU, non-UK national workers were up 20,000. – Daily Mail UK unemployment fell slightly to 1.62 million in the three months to October, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). It meant the unemployment rate held steady at 4.8% in the period, remaining at an 11-year low. Average weekly earnings excluding bonuses rose by 2.6% – a slight increase on the previous month. – BBC UK services exports to boom – unless protectionism takes off and dents post-Brexit prospects Britain’s services exports will more than double in the coming 15 years as new technologies combined with a more globalised economy allow UK firms to sell their services around the world, according to a forecast from HSBC. The rise of an affluent middle class in countries such as India and China will increase demand for the financial services in which the UK specialises, while business services are also in higher demand… But that will only be the case if increased moves towards a more liberalised system of global trade continue. A shift towards protectionism around the world would dent Britain’s growth prospects, HSBC warned. – Daily Telegraph Study shows Brexit has damaged the UK’s reputation in the EU but boosted it in the wider world A British Council-commissioned survey of 40,000 people living in G20 countries suggests the seismic vote is viewed differently depending where people live… When questioned on ‘overall attractiveness’, 36 per cent of people in EU countries said Brexit had a negative impact – compared to 17 per cent who said positive. However, in Commonwealth nations 33 per cent saw Brexit as having a positive impact compared to 20 per cent who had negative. In the rest of the G20 (Argentina, Brazil, China, Indonesia, Japan, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey and the USA), 35 per cent had a positive take on Brexit and 17 per cent negative. The same pattern emerged when asked about their trust in people from the UK following the Brexit vote. – Huffington Post Five reasons the Anglosphere is more than just a romantic vision – but has real geopolitical teeth – Graeme Leach for City A.M. Andrew Lilico: Hidden? Non-existent? Obscure? Nonsense. May’s Brexit negotiation strategy is clear What is it that isn’t clear? She is going to end free movement and end UK laws being subject to the European Court of Justice and the EU decision-making process, and also have a new trade deal with the EU that leaves UK-EU trade as close as possible to its current conditions whilst leaving us free to negotiate new trade deals with non-EU countries… She says we’re definitely, one hundred per cent going to end free movement and our laws being subject to EU law. So we’re not going to be in the “Single Market”, in the sense that being in the Single Market means (by definition) having free movement and being subject to EU law. That is crystal clear. – Andrew Lilico for ConservativeHome Stephen Bush: On Brexit, Keir Starmer is copying Theresa May’s lines [Labour’s] plan? To secure “tariff-free access” to the single market while giving Britain “reasonable” controls over immigration. I know what you’re thinking: isn’t that Theresa May’s plan? To which the answer is: yes, it is the government’s plan, at least as far as the public debate is concerned, to secure the benefits of single market membership without having to be subject to free movement. – Stephen Bush for the New Statesman’s Staggers blog Brexit comment in brief The three key elements to making a success of Brexit, presented by Daniel Hannan – ConservativeHome Put and end to this Brexit bickering – Eamonn Butler for the Adam Smith Institute blog Theresa May needs to get on with delivering Brexit – Daily Express editorial Nick Clegg interview: Brexit is being handled by ‘one of the most clueless governments in living memory’ – Business Insider UK The Eurogroup is the real villain in Greece today, not the IMF – Ambrose Evans-Pritchard for the Daily Telegraph (£) Defending the EU and the Euro destroys political parties – John Redwood’s Diary Malign influence, lame duck or honest broker: What kind of role might the UK play in the Council during the Brexit negotiations? – Dr Nick Wright for The UK in a Changing Europe Don’t let Sir Humphrey run Brexit – Douglas Carswell’s blog Philip Hammond and Mark Carney are Britain’s anti-Brexit Chuckle Brothers who are trying to sabotage our withdrawal. We musn’t let them get away with it – Jayne Adye for The Commentator Brexit news in brief Scottish Secretary David Mundell open to Brexit ‘arrangement’ for Scotland – The Scotsman Carney to attend ECB meeting as central bankers seek Brexit advice – Bloomberg British experts sent to Greece to root out economic migrants from refugees coming into EU – The Independent Russia responds to ‘primitive’ claims it interfered in Brexit vote – The i Airbus should be given a Nissan-style Brexit-busting deal to protect jobs, claims Labour – Bristol Post U.K. lawyers in Brussels rush to secure European qualifications – Politico Trump yet to speak to EU leader Juncker – EurActiv Surge in Eastern European students awarded UK university places ahead of Brexit vote, figures show – Daily Telegraph And finally… Brexit means Brexit: the term is finally defined and added to the Oxford Dictionary The word was added to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) this month with officials noting the “impressive” speed at which the term was integrated into the English language. After months of being told “Brexit means Brexit” by Prime Minister Theresa May, there is finally an official definition for the newly coined term. According to the OED, Brexit is “the (proposed) withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, and the political process associated with it. “Sometimes used specifically with reference to the referendum held in the UK on June 23, 2016, in which a majority of voters favoured withdrawal from the EU.” – Daily Express