TRADING BLOWS
Merkel rejects PM plea for early talks on Single Market May in security threat to EU if UK cannot secure deal
THERESA May’s aim of early trade deals in the Brexit process was last night sunk by German leader Angela Merkel.
Mrs Merkel insisted the UK must first agree how it will “disentangle” itself.
But the PM threatened that security co-operation depends on a deal. She said: “It’ll be part of that package of negotiations.”
THE EU’s most powerful nations have lined up against the UK in a power play for control of the Brexit process which began yesterday.
Mrs May hailed a “great turning point in our history” in the Commons, but the French and the Germans quickly fired their first shots to shutdown her aim of a speedy trade deal.
And the PM rattled EU and MPs’ cages with a veiled threat that the UK will end security co-operation with Europe if we leave without a trade deal.
Laying out her intentions in her six-page Article 50 leaving letter to European Council president Donald Tusk, Mrs May stressed four times that “we believe it is necessary to agree the terms of our future partnership alongside those of our withdrawal.”
She also repeated the UK’s desire for a “deep and special partnership” with the EU, seven times. But Mrs Merkel adopted a “first things first” approach, insisting on divorce before trade deals.
The German Chancellor said: “Negotiations must first clarify how we will disentangle our inter-linked relationship. Only when this question is dealt with can we, hopefully soon after, begin talking about our future relationship.”
France weighed in behind her, and Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said: “After negotiation of the separation, there will be another negotiation – the organisation of future relations.”
It means Britain may first have to reach an agreement on issues such as the whopping £50billion “divorce bill” demanded by Brussels.
And a “transitional agreement”, beyond 2019, seemed inevitable.
The historic letter formally triggering our EU departure was handed to EU President Donald Tusk yesterday by the PM’s special representative in Brussels, Sir Tim Barrow. It means Britain will officially leave when Big Ben chimes midnight on March 29, 2019. Brexiteers celebrated the moment, and former UKIP leader Nigel Farage was pictured in Union flag socks raising a pint outside a Westminster pub. “I’m over the moon,” he said. “After 25 years of campaigning, the impossible dream came true.” Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, a Vote Leave backer, said it was a “historic and exciting day”. But Mr Tusk struck a pessimistic tone, saying: “We already miss you. Thank you and goodbye.”
He added it was not “a happy day”, stating that there was nothing for either side to gain from the two years of negotiations to come.
He said: “Most Europeans, including almost half the British voters, wish that we would stay together. In essence, this is about damage control.”
One controversial move was Mrs May’s linking of security to trade.
In her letter to Mr Tusk, she wrote: “In security terms, a failure to reach agreement would mean our co-operation in the fight against crime and terrorism would be weakened.” She added: “Europe has a responsibility to stand up for free trade in the interest of all our citizens. Likewise, Europe’s security is more fragile today than at any time since the end of the Cold War.
“Weakening our co-operation for the prosperity and protection of our citizens would be a costly mistake.”
Angry MPs from all parties said the
PM’s new threat on security means the price of failure is now even higher.
Labour MP Yvette Cooper said: “She should not be trying to use this as a bargaining chip. She should rule out now walking away with no security deal, as our national security and public safety depend on it.”
Tory MP Dominic Grieve, who chairs the Commons intelligence and security committee, added: “It is in Britain’s vital national interest that we retain our security co-operation with the EU.”
Number 10 denied the message on security was a threat, insisting it was a “simple statement of fact”.
The PM has also said she would walk away with no deal, despite resulting high World Trade Organisation tariffs. And Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn warned in the Commons: “The Prime Minister says no deal is better than a bad deal. But the reality is, no deal is a bad deal. It would damage our economy and people’s living standards.”
Last night Mrs May refused to separate security and trade issues. “I would like to be able to maintain the degree of co-operation on these matters that we have currently,” she told Andrew Neil. “But it will be part of that package of negotiations.”
And she hinted free movement from Europe and the powers of the EU court may extend for some years beyond 2019 as Brexit is phased in.
“We want to have the agreements done in two years. There may then be a period of implementing those arrangements,” she said.
Her comments mean a transitional deal with Europe that extends Britain’s ties into the 2020s now looks likely.
The Government will today press on with its Brexit plan to transpose thousands of EU laws into British law.