EU chief urges UK to change mind over Brexit

STRASBOURG (AFP) — European Union President Donald Tusk said yesterday that the bloc’s “hearts are still open” to Britain if it changes its mind about leaving, in a fresh suggestion that Brexit could be reversed.

“If the UK government sticks to its decision to leave, Brexit will become a reality, with all its negative consequences, in March next year unless there is a change of heart among our British friends,” Tusk told EU lawmakers yesterday in Strasbourg, France.

Tusk, who chairs summits of EU leaders and speaks on their behalf, quoted UK Brexit envoy David Davis as saying that “if a democracy cannot change its mind, it ceases to be a democracy.”

Britain is set to leave the EU on March 29, 2019, but negotiations on its departure and future EU-UK relations must be concluded by October to leave parliaments time to ratify any agreement.

Brexit talks have progressed painfully slowly, and while the EU says it’s ready to discuss future ties with London, leaders are still seeking more details about how Prime Minister Theresa May’s government sees those links.

“What we need today is more clarity on the UK’s vision,” Tusk said. ”The hardest work is still ahead of us and time is limited.”

Negotiations are continuing on a transition period that would help ease Britain out of the bloc next year.

The EU is insisting on less than two years, until the end of 2020 — when the Union’s current long-term budget period ends.

Britain will not be able to conclude a trade deal with the EU or any other country until that period is over, and it will have to continue to obey all European regulations without having any say in the way this bloc of more than half a billion people is run.

Manfred Weber, the leader of the European People’s Party group — the biggest in the EU parliament — said: “My message to London is: please don’t complain anymore. Give us an outlook about what you want to achieve for the future relationship.”