'EU is alarmed!' Brussels chiefs can’t HANDLE UK’s Brexit negotiations, commentator warns

Matthew Holehouse, Brexit correspondent for Mlex
news service, said Britain’s threat to walk away from
the negotiation table if it does not get the right deal
has “shocked” Brussels leaders.
Speaking on the Today programme, on BBC Radio 4,
Mr Holehouse warned the European Union was unsure
how to deal with UK negotiators.
He said: “There’s an element of shock and alarm on
the EU 27 part, in that what they thought they’d been
dealing with, a stable and rational country for 43 years,
suddenly doesn’t look very stable at all.
“All this talk of ‘no deal’ scenarios, rather than
strengthening the UK’s hand because it makes the EU
think that the UK’s serious and has got other options,
really just spreads alarm that you’re not dealing with a
rational actor.
Matthew Holehouse said EU chiefs were "alarmed" at
the UK's Brexit position
“Nobody in the EU27 thinks that leaving without a deal
and losing all the bilateral cooperation that you need
to make a globalised economy work, nobody thinks
that’s a good idea at all.”
The EU is finally preparing for the next phase of Brexit
negotiations on future trade with the UK in a major
breakthrough for Theresa May’s team.
European Council President Donald Tusk has asked the
27 EU states to start discussing trade internally ahead
of next week’s summit, a draft document has revealed.
Brexit negotiations: UK’s key
policy positions
Wed, September 13, 2017
Here is a summary of the UK’s main proposals for
Brexit
PLAY
[Getty Images]
GETTY IMAGES 1 of 8
Keir Starmer BLASTS
Tory Brexit ‘failure’
amid position
uncertainty
Danish MEP blasts
EU chief Juncker
saying Denmark
could follow Brexit
RELATED ARTICLES
In a news conference yesterday, EU negotiator Michel
Barnier warned talks on the first phase were still
“deadlocked” over the divorce bill, describing the
stalemate as “disturbing”.
Mr Barnier said he hoped “decisive progress” by
December would allow talks of a post-Brexit deal to
finally begin.
But Mr Tusk’s document is more upbeat, talking of
good progress and the hope of trade talks beginning
soon with “internal preparatory discussions” by EU
officials in the meantime.