EU ministers are meeting this morning to sign off the text of their negotiating mandate for the post-Brexit trade talks with the UK. As my colleague Daniel Boffey reports, the EU will demand the UK maintains a ban on chlorinated chicken as the price for a trade agreement with Brussels. Here is an extract from his story.
On the recommendation of France, a clause has been inserted into the EU’s negotiating mandate to insist that both sides maintain “health and product sanitary quality in the food and agriculture sector”, according to a copy leaked to the Guardian.
The paragraph, in a newly entitled section of the document for the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, called “Environment and health” provides a catch-all insurance for the EU that certain methods of food production – particular pesticides, endocrine disrupters or chlorine washes for poultry – will not be used in the UK.
And here is the story in full.
EU ministers are still arriving at the general affairs council meeting in Brussels, and there is a live feed of the arrivals here. I will post some extracts from what they have been saying shortly.
Here is the agenda for the day.
Morning: EU ministers meet at the general affairs council to agree the EU’s negotiating mandate for the trade talks with the UK.
9.30am: Boris Johnson chairs cabinet. After that Johnson will chair a meeting of the cabinet’s EU exit strategy (XS) committee which will agree the UK’s own negotiating strategy.
12pm: Downing Street lobby briefing.
Around 1.30pm: The EU is due to hold a press conference following the GAC meeting.
6.30pm: The Labour leadership candidates Sir Keir Starmer, Rebecca Long-Bailey and Lisa Nandy speak at a hustings event organised by the Guardian in Manchester. My colleague Anushka Ashthana is chairing it.
The National Farmers’ Union is also starting its conference in Birmingham. Minette Batters, the NFU president, is speaking.
As usual, we will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web. I will be blogging this morning, a colleague will take over in the afternoon while I get a train to Manchester, and then I will be covering the Labour hustings.
You can read all the latest Guardian politics articles here. Here is the Politico Europe roundup of this morning’s political news. And here is the PoliticsHome list of today’s top 10 must-reads.
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