EU Exit Negotiations Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateRobert Courts
Main Page: Robert Courts (Conservative - Witney)Department Debates - View all Robert Courts's debates with the Department for Exiting the European Union
(7 years, 2 months ago)
Commons ChamberMichel Barnier has said that his
“state of mind…is to reach an agreement”
with the United Kingdom. In the Secretary of State’s experience, is the good will that is required to reach a negotiated settlement present?
Of course it is. The simple fact is that all the negotiators on the other side want to reach a deal, not just out of generosity and altruism to us, but because it is in their own interest to do so. The second thing to say is that, as other people have pointed out, these are simply the negotiators. At the end of the day, they are not the final decision makers. That falls to the Council and it very much has every reason to do a deal.