The Brexit negotiations are at a "very sensitive" moment and given the position of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, on issues such as the Irish safeguard it will be very difficult to reach a legally operational solution . This was stated today by the European Union Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier , after meeting in Berlin with the German Foreign Minister, Heiko Maas.

"Today we do not have the basis for an agreement," said Barnier, for whom the ball is on the roof of Downing Street. The British premier plans to meet this week in New York with the president of the European Council, Donald Tusk , in what will be a new opportunity to move tab or, on the contrary, stay in the thesis that Johnson has defended so far, which It would mean an exit without agreement on October 31.

The EU, at least as far as the Irish safeguard is concerned, is not willing to make concessions, according to Barnier, who described Johnson's demand to withdraw it from "unacceptable . " The argument of Brussels is that this safeguard, already included in the exit agreement agreed with Theresa May, is designed so that Northern Ireland is attached to the Community rules in case London and Dublin do not reach an agreement on the future relationship commercial after a transition period. This mechanism is also seen in community capitals as a way to preserve peace in Ireland.

Given Johnson's repeated rejection of this mechanism and the EU's strong adherence to it, Barnier acknowledged that it will be difficult to find a solution that ends the uncertainty , although he was open to studying any new proposal from London.

The head of German diplomacy, for his part, took advantage of the appearance before the media to remind London that the negotiations on Brexit are centralized and led by Brussels. Maas reacted in this way to information that suggests that London is offering bilateral agreements to different EU countries , with the purpose, presumably, of breaking the cohesion of the bloc.

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