(MENAFN- Gulf Times) David Davis's Brexit department believes Brussels is trying to undermine the government's negotiating position by claiming he has been sidelined from talks on Britain's future outside the EU. Davis is formally the government's lead negotiator in the talks with the EU27, which are due to resume in the new year.
Olly Robbins, the senior Whitehall official who worked in the department for exiting the European Union (DExEU) before transferring to No 10 earlier this year, plays an increasingly important role.
DExEU blamed Brussels troublemaking for a report in the Times that Davis had been 'sidelined, with Robbins holding face-to-face meetings with the EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier.
A senior DExEU source suggested the reports were an example of what the Brexit secretary called in his October party conference speech 'offensive, indeed insulting, briefing to the newspapers, which I take as a compliment. At the time, Davis said: 'Of course sometimes the exchanges are tough, but that is to be expected.
Robbins is closely involved in day-to-day negotiations, opposite Barnier's deputy, Sabine Weyand, with Davis travelling to Brussels to meet Barnier face to face at key moments.
Theresa May became directly involved in early December, as the government sealed a deal at the conclusion of the first phase of talks, which risked being scuppered by the Democratic Unionist party.
DExEU sources did not deny that Barnier may occasionally have been present at meetings between Robbins and Weyand, but insisted the civil servant only acted with Davis's approval and also liaised closely with the prime minister. Brussels sources denied involvement with the reports, describing the question of Davis's role in the negotiations as a 'London story but pointed out that Barnier was in close contact with Weyand throughout, as well as liaising with political figures in the EU27 capitals.
A DExEU spokesperson said: 'This characterisation of the negotiations is wholly and wilfully inaccurate. The Brexit secretary meets with his counterpart, Michel Barnier, at regular intervals to oversee the negotiations.
'In November they agreed their officials would maintain a constant dialogue, so it should be of no surprise that senior British civil servants press the UK's case as set by the prime minister and the Brexit secretary.
No date has yet been set for negotiations to resume, but Barnier has been keen to press the government for a clearer picture of the relationship it will seek with the EU27 after Brexit.
Davis hopes to reach agreement in the first quarter of the new year on the details of an 'implementation period, which will start after March 2019.
The government has already accepted that Britain will abide by EU rules during this phase and will begin payment of the £35bn-plus in continuing financial obligations it signed up to as part of phase one of the negotiations.
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