May: The ball is in EU’s court

BRUSSELS: Brexit negotiations enter a critical round with British Prime Minister Theresa May saying the ball is in the EU’s court, but the bloc fearing her domestic political woes threaten the talks.

EU negotiator Michel Barnier and British counterpart David Davis kick off the fifth round of divorce discussions, the last before European leaders meet on Oct 19 to decide whether to move on to trade talks.

The prognosis is grim, with European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker having warned that “miracles” are needed this week to make enough progress to get a positive decision at the summit.

Brussels is particularly alarmed by the leadership crisis engulfing the British Prime Minister, facing a plot to oust her after a catastrophic, mishap-strewn speech at her Conservative party’s conference.

May is set to tell parliament today that she expects “leadership and flexibility” from the other 27 EU countries in the negotiations.

“As we look forward to the next stage, the ball is in their court. But I am optimistic we will receive a positive response,” May was expected to say, according to her office. “I believe we can prove the doomsayers wrong.”

The questions over May’s leadership have killed off hopes that a separate speech she gave in Florence in September, which contained key concessions, could give a “new dynamic” to the talks. Initially, Barnier had hoped to achieve “sufficient progress” to move on to discussing future EU-UK relations by the end of October, with the clock ticking for a deal before Britain leaves the bloc in March 2019.

He, however, tweeted on Friday that he was optimistic of the talk’s progress.

The talks have stalled on all three of the key divorce issues – the exit bill Britain must pay, the rights of EU citizens living in Britain and the fate of Northern Ireland but May and her colleagues want to begin talks on the future, including a possible EU-UK trade deal, as soon as possible. — AFP