Relations between the EU and the UK hit a new all-time low last week. The reason the European Council declined to comment is claims that British spy agencies spied on Brexit negotiators in Brussels. Consultations between the two sides have progressed at a rapid pace since 23 June 2016, when British voters chose to leave the EU during, following a national referendum. In March 2017, London officially invoked Article 50 of the EU Treaty, which provides for Britain's withdrawal from the European Community within two years.
On Wednesday, the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph said that a number of EU Brexit negotiators believe their closed-door meetings have been spied on by the British intelligence service, known as MI6. According to The Telegraph, fears of espionage have been raised by Sabine Weyand, a German EU official who currently serves as deputy head of the European Council's Article 50 Working Group. On July 13, at a meeting of the European Council, Weyand said that "it cannot be excluded" that British intelligence agencies have found a way to listen to the closed-door meetings of Brexit negotiators. According to The Telegraph, Weyand and other EU officials became suspicious after London appeared to be aware of the information discussed on 5 July at a closed-door meeting of the Article 50 Working Group. Weyand told the European Council that the information it arrived in London "within a few hours" of being presented in Brussels. Just hours after the secret presentation, senior British government officials were lobbying publicly against classified information.
On Thursday, a spokesman for the European Commission, which operates as the EU cabinet, did not deny that espionage concerns were raised by EU Brexit negotiators. When questioned by journalists in Brussels about the allegations reported by The Telegraph, the spokesperson replied: "The Commission's position today is that we cannot comment on these press releases." As the press conference was taking place, British negotiators were arriving in Brussels to resume the latest round of Brexit talks with the EU Article 50 Working Group.