U.K. must ‘stop the games’ on Brexit, German diplomat says

Germany’s Deputy Foreign Minister Michael Roth slammed the U.K.’s strategy in Brexit talks, saying that the lack of progress is disappointing and that a recent bill that seeks to override parts of the divorce agreement is unacceptable.

The European Union fully backs its Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier and is committed to a fair deal, Roth told reporters on Tuesday before a meeting of European Affairs Ministers in Brussels.

“But please, dear friends in London, stop the games. Time is running out,” he said, adding that the U.K.’s Internal Market Bill is extremely worrying.

The contentious element of the bill involves changes to the Withdrawal Agreement’s protocol for Northern Ireland, which shares a land border with the EU. Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis said on Sept. 8 that the legislation would break international law in a “specific and limited way.”

The bill, which triggered a storm in the U.K. and abroad, “violates the guiding principles of the withdrawal agreement and that’s totally unacceptable for us,” Roth said.

The next meeting of the Joint Committee discussing a possible trade agreement between the EU and its former member state will take place on Monday in Brussels, European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic said earlier in a tweet. “We are dedicated to the full and timely implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement,” he added.