Brexit talks have reached into space, with the European Union and Britain fighting over the rights that London will have to the multi-billion Galileo satellite navigation system and its security-sensitive information.
The EU's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said Monday that by deciding to leave the bloc, Britain automatically cut its Galileo ties too and could renegotiate them only as a third country under less advantageous conditions.
From left, Liberal Democrat former deputy PM Nick Clegg, Tory ex-education secretary Nicky Morgan and Labour former foreign secretary David Miliband speaking at a cross-party intervention Brexit negotiation at Tilda Rice Mill in Rainham, England, Monday, May 14, 2018. (Stefan Rousseau/PA via AP)
Barnier did not address how short those conditions would fall of full EU membership.
"No decision has been already taken for the future cooperation between the U.K. and Galileo," he told reporters in Brussels. "Obviously we will have cooperation between U.K. and Galileo, obviously, as we have for the United States or Norway."
Reduced to a friendly third country at best has angered the British government, which sees it as a negotiating ploy in the protracted Brexit negotiations that face a fall deadline if Britain's March 29, 2019 departure date is to proceed smoothly.
British Science Minister Sam Gyimah told the BBC "we have helped to develop the Galileo system. We want to be part of the secure elements of the system and we want U.K. industry to be able to bid for contracts on a fair basis."
"The EU is playing hardball with us," Gyimah said.
Barnier insisted, however, that Britain itself, as an EU member, was part of the unanimous decision that "for some information we have to protect the member states."
The Galileo system has a top security Public Regulated Service for governments that only EU members can now fully use. Third countries and their companies cannot participate in the development of PRS security modules, Barnier said.
"Decisions have consequences," said EU foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini, as she and Barnier highlighted that with the 2016 Brexit decision, Britain decided to leave some 750 international agreements in one fell swoop.
Barnier, meanwhile, continued to lament the snail's pace of progress in the EU's Brexit talks with Britain, insisting that a crucial June 28-29 EU summit on the issue was quickly drawing close.
When queried if there was very little progress in recent weeks, he said "a little, not very little."
"Nobody must have to underestimate the key rendezvous of June," he added, when the EU's 27 remaining leaders and British Prime Minister Theresa May will have their two-day summit.
On the British side, former Foreign Secretary David Miliband has joined with politicians from rival parties to call for Britain to retain the closest possible ties with the EU after Brexit.
Miliband says the U.K. should stay in the European Economic Area, made up of the EU and countries such as Norway that have access to the bloc's single market.
At this point, May's government insists that Britain will leave the EU's single market and customs union so it can strike new trade deals around the world. But many businesses fear the economic harm of a so-called "hard" Brexit.
Miliband said Monday that staying in the EEA would provide "a safe harbor for Britain after Brexit."
Miliband joined former Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg and Conservative legislator Nicky Morgan to urge a soft Brexit that keeps Britain in the EU's single market.
LONDON (AP) — Two men accused of cutting down the majestic Sycamore Gap tree concealed their faces from cameras as they arrived at court Wednesday but inside the courtroom they couldn't hide from the cost of the damage they allegedly caused.
A prosecutor said the value of the roughly 150-year-old beloved tree that was toppled onto Hadrian’s Wall in northern England last year exceeded 620,000 pounds ($785,000).
“This is a case that will be instantly recognizable to you, indeed anyone hearing the charges read out,” prosecutor Rebecca Brown said in Newcastle Magistrates’ Court. “The prosecution say the tree was deliberately felled on Sept. 28 last year and the resultant fall damaged Hadrian’s Wall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The prosecution say these defendants are responsible as part of a joint enterprise.”
Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers were each charged with two counts of criminal damage. One count is for allegedly cutting down the tree and the second is for damage to the adjacent wall built by Emperor Hadrian in A.D. 122 to protect the northwest frontier of the Roman Empire.
The sycamore’s regal canopy framed between two hills made it a popular subject for landscape photographers. It became a destination on the path along the wall after being featured in Kevin Costner’s 1991 film “Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves.”
The nighttime felling on Sept. 28 caused widespread outrage as police tried to find the culprits behind what they called a deliberate act of vandalism.
Graham, 38, pleaded not guilty. Carruthers, 31, did not enter a plea.
The two wore suits and black masks when they arrived and left court. Graham wore a balaclava and aviator sunglasses and Carruthers had a black stocking pulled over his head.
Inside court, though, they had to remove their head coverings as Brown gave a detailed accounting — down to the pound — of the alleged damage they caused and how it was calculated.
The prosecutor said the tree was evaluated using a tool to calculate the cost of replacing a significant public tree that considers its size, the quality of its crown and canopy, and the number of people who could visit it.
Prosecutors also took into account the “serious distress" and economic consequences and social damage, Brown said.
Damage to the wall was assessed at more than 1,100 pounds ($1,400).
Brown said the case was complex due to the lengths investigators went, including consulting botanists, and using analysis from cell phone towers and license plate recognition technology.
District Judge Zoe Passfield said the case was “too serious” for the magistrates’ court and the next hearing was scheduled June 12 in Newcastle Crown Court.
Both men were released on bail.
Daniel Graham foreground and Adam Carruthers, centre-right, leave Newcastle Upon Tyne Magistrates' Court after appearing in connection with the felling of the Sycamore Gap tree, in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, Wednesday, May 15, 2024. The men are charged with causing criminal damage and damaging the wall built in A.D. 122 by Emperor Hadrian to guard the northwest frontier of the Roman Empire. (Owen Humphreys/PA Wire/PA via AP)
FILE - A general view of the stars above Sycamore Gap prior to the Perseid Meteor Shower above Hadrian's Wall near Bardon Mill, England, Wednesday, Aug. 12, 2015. Two men have been charged with causing criminal damage for cutting down a popular 150-year-old tree next to Hadrian's Wall and featured in a Kevin Costner’s 1991 film “Robin Hood: Prince Of Thieves,” prosecutors said Monday April 29, 2024. Daniel Graham and Adam Carruthers were also charged with damaging the wall that was built in AD 122 by Emperor Hadrian to to guard the north-west frontier of the Roman Empire. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell, File)
