France urges Johnson to use Frosts exit to rebuild trust with EU – The Guardian

The French government has called on Boris Johnson to use David Frosts resignation as Brexit minister to rebuild trust with the EU amid uncertainty over the prime ministers approach in the new year.

Clment Beaune, Frances EU affairs minister, who had a series of run-ins with the prime ministers pugnacious minister, suggested that Downing Street should use the moment to reset the troubled relationship.

He said: We had difficult relations but we always continued the dialogue. I send my best with respect to David Frost after his resignation. It is time for the British government to rebuild a climate of trust with France and the EU in the interest of all.

The announcement that Liz Truss, the foreign secretary, would take on responsibility for EU affairs has done little to clarify how the prime minister will approach various ongoing issues.

A remain voter before the campaign, Truss switched to become one of the most vocal backers of Brexit, notably avoiding even mention of the EU in recent speeches about the countrys foreign policy.

In recent weeks, the UK government softened its approach to the post-Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland, with the two sides brokering a Christmas truce in the talks on a relatively positive note. But Truss, who regularly comes out top in surveys of the Conservative memberships favourite cabinet ministers, has pushed a tough line towards Brussels in the past.

One EU diplomat said of Lord Frosts resignation: Hopefully the new negotiator will be more pragmatic, making good relations with the EU and its member states relations a priority over the pursuit of a pure, antagonistic Brexit were not holding our breath.

Frost was recognised in Brussels as having both the prime ministers ear and standing among the most vocal Brexiters in the Tory party. His apparent buy-in to a notable change of tone and policy in recent weeks was seen as a positive.

While the EU has not wholly embraced the change of approach, insisting that Downing Street was still seeking to renege on its past agreements, the UK had been offering to focus on issues around trade friction rather than pursue a more thorough going rewrite of the protocol.

But while there are some concerns about the future, few tears will be shed in Brussels over Frosts departure from the scene. He had a willingness to push negotiations to the edge, even on the sensitive issue of the Irish border.

Frost inherited and finished the negotiations on the so-called Northern Ireland protocol in the withdrawal agreement, a compromise that guarantees that there is no border on the island of Ireland. But the minister had been scathing about the arrangement, which in effect keeps Northern Ireland in the EUs single market for goods and draws a customs border down the Irish Sea.

His command paper of July emphasised that this outcome had been forced on the Johnson administration due to errors under the previous prime minister.

Frost sought to unpick much of that deal, with his most contentious demand being that the European court of justice (ECJ) should not be the arbiter of disputes over the implementation of the law in Northern Ireland.

In recent days, there has been a shift to accept that the ECJ will play a role, albeit merely as a reference point on EU law for an independent arbitration panel. Frost privately insisted this was not a new position, but other British officials have indicated that it was a shift, hinting at difficult conversations within government.

Diplomats and officials in Brussels were not generous in their assessment of the minister, known to the prime minister as the Great Frost.

Lord Frost never got Brexit done; he actually made sure it endured using the Northern Ireland protocol to get his way, one senior EU diplomat said. But one year on from the deal he negotiated, what did it bring the UK? Apart from mistrust and deteriorated relationships with most member states?

The diplomat added: Frost seemed to have a very ideological idea of what Brexit meant and that didnt make for good neighbourly relations. For now the European court of justice was a bridge too far for Downing Street, but it will depend on his successor whether we indeed see a more pragmatic line emerge.

A further major issue that will require the attention of Truss is fisheries, where the French government continues to insist that it has been hard done by in terms of licences for vessels operating in British waters.

Frost has also voiced his frustration that the UK has not been provided with access to Horizon Europe, the EUs research and innovation programme. Two months ago, the veteran MP Bill Cash, chair of the Commons European scrutiny committee, claimed British scientists were being frozen out of the 80bn flagship research programme because of the ongoing dispute over Northern Ireland.

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France urges Johnson to use Frosts exit to rebuild trust with EU - The Guardian