‘Brexit deal still possible this week’
Britain must act now to seal an agreement by tomorrow, says EU
LUXEMBOURG: A Brexit divorce deal is possible ahead of tomorrow’s European Union summit, but the British government needs to move ahead with more compromises to seal an agreement in the next few hours, the bloc declared.
Even though many open questions remained, diplomats made clear that both sides were for the first time within touching distance since an earlier EU-UK Brexit withdrawal agreement fell apart in the British House of Commons in March.
EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said yesterday ahead of a meeting of EU ministers that the main challenge now was to turn the new British proposals on the complex Irish border issue into something binding.
“It is high time to turn good intentions into a legal text,” he said.
Barnier said he wanted a clear answer by this morning to tell EU capitals what should be decided once the bloc’s two-day summit kicks off tomorrow.
Britain is scheduled to leave the EU on Oct 31, and the EU summit was long considered one of the last possible chances to approve a divorce agreement to accommodate that timeframe.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson insists that his country will leave at the end of the month with or without a divorce deal, but British lawmakers have been adamant on avoiding a no-deal Brexit.
Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney, who had a long and intense talk with Barnier early yesterday, said from the EU side, the belief was that “this is difficult, but it is doable”.
He said Barnier addressed EU ministers and “did point to progress in the last number of days where the gaps have been narrowed”.
Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok said the British proposals to keep the Irish border protected from smuggling and fraud once the UK leaves the bloc were insufficient so far.
“The UK proposal contained some steps forward, but not enough to guarantee that the internal market will be protected,” Blok said.
According to Barnier, “Even if an agreement will be difficult – more and more difficult, we think – it is still possible this week.”
One EU diplomat said for things to work, technical negotiators would need to finish their text and make it available in a secure room by 10am today so that European governments have time to assess them.
EU ministers insisted it was time for Johnson to make the next move – and he seemed to be listening. The British leader had a phone call with French President Emmanuel Macron yesterday to assess latest developments and shifted Britain’s weekly Cabinet meeting from yesterday to today so that Johnson could give his ministers a better idea of Brexit progress.
Meanwhile, the insistence that the EU summit this week would be a cut-off moment for Brexit talks is quickly fading. Three EU nations have predicted that the negotiations could spill over into next week.
Antti Rinne, prime minister of Finland, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency, said in Helsinki that he had given up hope for a quick breakthrough ahead of the Brexit summit.
“There is no time in a practical way and in legal base to reach an agreement before the meeting,” Rinne said.
“We need to have more time.” Blok agreed, saying: “Let’s use the remaining time until Oct 31.”
There has been increasing talk about having an extra EU summit close to the end of the month.