Clarity on Brexit to come in ‘few weeks’
LONDON: Brexit Secretary David Davis said there would be some clarity on the Brexit divorce bill in a “a few more weeks,” as the UK side is going through European demands in search of a breakthrough in talks.
The 68-year-old political veteran engaged with an audience of mostly German executives in Berlin, first in a speech and then in a question-and-answer session where he was quizzed about the government’s turmoil back in London and on the size of the Brexit bill.
His message to German business leaders was for them not to be passive observers of the Brexit process, even as they have made clear that their priority is European Union unity.
When it was their turn, the audience wanted to know what Mr Davis thought were the chances of a breakthrough in December at a summit of leaders and what more was the UK willing to pay to move talks to trade. German Chancellor Angela Merkel is said to be wary of pushing Prime Minister Theresa May too hard for fear it will damage her at home.
“On a day-by-day basis we’re going through and establishing what the European Union believes about these commitments, what size they are, what the basis of their understanding is and then we’ll make some decisions, political decisions, later on,” he said.
When one member of the audience pushed him on specifics, asking if the gap between what the UK has offered and the EU is being bridged, Mr Davis said: “Wait for another few weeks before I answer that.”
On Friday he renewed calls to the EU for talks to move on, saying it’s time for the EU to compromise. He signalled in an interview with the BBC that while some countries are keen to move on, the French and German view is decisive. The UK has “made all the running,” he said.
Prime Minister Theresa May was in Gothenburg yesterday for an informal EU summit, where she’s meeting counterparts for talks on the sidelines. She met her Swedish counterparts late on Thursday and Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar early yesterday and both were clear in comments to reporters that more needs to be done.
The EU is pushing for Britain to pay at least 60 billion euros (2.3 trillion baht) to cover budgetary commitments and future liabilities such as pensions for EU civil servants. So far, Ms May has limited commitments to honouring about 20 billion euros of budget payments after Brexit, scheduled for March 29, 2019.