May firmly told Brexit plan ‘will not work’
BRITISH Prime Minister Theresa May’s Chequers plan was firmly slapped down as EU leaders told her it “will not work”.
Mrs May was left visibly furious after French President Emmanuel Macron said Brexit had been sold to the British public by “liars” and that she needed to come up with “new propositions” if she wants to salvage a deal.
Following two days in Salzburg, the British prime minister appeared to stick to her guns on the blueprint which is centred on a “common rulebook” approach, arguing that it was the only proposal that would avoid a hard Border in Ireland.
But European Council president Donald Tusk said the plan “will not work”. He said there are “positive elements” of the plan but ultimately it is viewed as undermining the single market.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar – who met Mrs May on the sidelines of the summit – said there are elements of the Chequers plan that can inform further negotiations and indicated there is room for compromise once the fundamental demands of Ireland and the EU are met.
Mr Varadkar added: “I’m not going to make compromises here [in the media]. If I do have to make compromises in the future they’ll be made at the right point but I think everyone has to be willing to make compromises in order to secure an agreement.
“What we can’t compromise on is those fundamentals that we need: a transition period, we need to make sure the common travel area is protected, that the rights of citizens in Northern Ireland are protected and also that we have a legally operable backstop that assures us that a hard Border won’t emerge on the island of Ireland.
“They’re the things that I can’t compromise on. But of course, language, detail, how you actually achieve those things I think any reasonable person who wants to get an agreement has to be willing to compromise on those things,” he said, adding that a deal was in everyone’s interest.
As the stalemate continued, the Irish protocol – a legal guarantee that would ensure no hard Border no matter the outcome of Brexit – again emerged as a sore point, with the EU 27 rowing in behind Ireland’s position that there can be no deal without first agreeing on the backstop.
Mr Tusk said the October meeting of the EU Council would be a “moment of truth” in negotiations. Europe wants a deal in principle agreed by October so it can be finalised in November.
Mrs May said she is working towards an October date but privately the embattled prime minister told Mr Varadkar she did not think she could have proposals on the backstop ready for October. At their bilateral talk, she was told time was running short and was pressed to bring forward a detailed alternative.
While Mrs May works on new detail on the backstop, she faces the difficult prospect of finding a solution that is palatable to the DUP in Northern Ireland – on whom she relies for a majority – as well as to Europe and her own party.
Asked about reports Mrs May is willing to concede to some regulatory checks at Irish Sea ports, Mr Varadkar said he didn’t want to comment on details of proposals without anything in writing.
He spoke of “there being verbal briefings and being promised certain things would happen, then when the documents arrive they are not quite what we expected”.