David Davis wants 'flexibility and imagination' in Brexit talks
David Davis wants greater "flexibility and imagination" in order to break the deadlock in Brexit negotiations, as the latest round of talks get under way in Brussels.
The EU's chief negotiator, Michael Barnier, has insisted progress must be made on sorting the UK's "divorce" bill before talks can advance to future trade. He believes a series of papers produced by his Department for Exiting the EU over the past fortnight have proved that the two issues are inextricably linked.
Britain has so far refused to explain how it thinks its liabilities to the EU should be calculated, let alone put a figure on it, which has infuriated Brussels, considering the figure is estimated to be between £50million and £80million.
Report by Political Correspondent Emily Morgan
Bank Holiday Monday will see the resumption of talks, with Labour's dramatic shift in policy populating the background. Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer announced on Sunday Labour would keep Britain inside the EU's single market and customs union during any transition period, which could last for four from the official Brexit date in 2019.
Sir Keir has made clear Labour's plans would mean the UK observing EU rules allowing free movement of people and barring trade talks with non-EU states during this period.
Sir Keir has made clear Labour's plans would mean the UK observing EU rules allowing free movement of people and barring trade talks with non-EU states during this period.
He was also suggested by Sir Keir that the party was willing to negotiate a tailor-made membership of the single market and customs union if Britain was allowed to impose an effective way of managing migration.
Tories accused Labour of "a weak attempt to kick the can down the road", but Jeremy Corbyn said Government "confusion" had left Mr Davis "in danger of wandering into a cliff-edge Brexit"in the Brussels talks.
As he opens discussions on Monday, Mr Davis is expected to say he wants to agree a deal which is in the best interests of both sides, and expects the four days of talks to be "constructive".
"For the UK, the week ahead is about driving forward the technical discussions across all the issues," the Brexit Secretary is expected to say.
"We want to lock in the points where we agree, unpick the areas where we disagree, and make further progress on a range of issues.
"But in order to do that, we'll require flexibility and imagination from both sides."
He will add: "Our goal remains the same. We want to agree a deal that works in the best interests of both the EU and the UK, and people and businesses right across Europe.
"And we're ready to roll up our sleeves and get down to work once more."Mr Davis will tell Mr Barnier that the papers setting out Britain's positions on a number of withdrawal issues and its vision for a "deep and special" future for the UK-EU relationship amount to proof of "the hard work and detailed thinking that has been going on behind the scenes" on the UK side since the last talks in July.
Some in London were enraged by Mr Barnier's apparently dismissive response to the documents, when he tweeted that he was "looking forward" to discussing them but that the "essential" issues remained the questions of expats' rights, the financial settlement and the Irish border which he has always said should take up the first phase of negotiations.