Brexit negotiations have hit a wall after the UK and EU negotiators failed to make any progress on how big Britain's withdrawal bill should be during "intense" talks, according to various reports. The British team told their EU counterparts that there was no legal basis for much of the money they have claimed is required, while the EU has protested that Britain has failed to establish a clear position on the matter. On Wednesday Barnier said: "To be flexible you need two points – our point and their point. We need to know their position and then I can be flexible." This came after the UK negotiating team laid out their arguments on the issue of the divorce bill with a 23-slide presentation and 11-page document over three hours, and said that they cannot reach a figure until October at the earliest. Britain's financial obligations to the EU, or the "divorce bill" as it's more commonly known, is one of the issues that the EU wants to finalise before talks on future relations take place, alongside citizens' rights and the Irish border. The British side, on the other hand, claims that it is impossible to make "sufficient progress" on preliminary issues like the divorce bill without at the same time addressing what the future UK-EU relationship will look like. "There was total amazement," a source within the EU told the Telegraph newspaper, describing discussions between British and EU negotiators. "Everyone was completely flabbergasted that this young man from Whitehall was saying that the EU's preparation on the financial settlement was 'inadequate'. It did not go down well."
The EU's Brexit negotiator has said he sees the process as an opportunity to "teach the British people and others what leaving the EU means". Michel Barnier said he would never resort to blackmail but saw it as his job to "educate" the UK about the price it would pay for leaving the EU "club". The UK has hit back, saying the EU does "not want to talk about the future". Brexit Secretary David Davis said it was "frightened" and the UK would not be bounced into a divorce bill deal. The latest salvos come after a week of talks in Brussels about the UK's withdrawal from the EU - scheduled to take place in March 2019 - which increased tensions between the two sides.
Brexit: UK to be 'educated' about consequences, says Barnier - BBC News
So mutual lectures, no progress, the clock is ticking..