EU SLAMMING THE BREX ON
May blocked on trade talks before March 2018 Ban on any deals with rest of world until 2021
THERESA May suffered a twopronged attack as Brussels stalled on Brexit trade talks and banned her from signing deals with other countries until 2021.
The PM finally got the green light to begin negotiations over a trade deal between the UK and the EU – but was bluntly told they could not start until March, 2018. Mrs May had wanted them to begin straight away.
And she was dealt a second blow when the leaders of the other 27 EU countries slipped out a ban on the UK signing deals with other countries such as the US, China and Japan until the end of the transition period in March 2021. Mrs May desperately tried to hail yesterday as an “important step” on the road to Brexit.
But Germany’s Angela Merkel warned it would get “even tougher” and Austrian PM Christian Kern predicted a “rocky road” ahead.
The European Commission also insisted Britain keeps all EU law during the transition period – including freedom of movement and rulings from the EU court.
Ex-UKIP leader Nigel Farage said: “This is simply a much worse form of membership. Any pretence we are leaving the EU on March 29, 2019, evaporates with this document.”
And senior Tory MP Jacob ReesMogg said the “hard-nosed” EU demands went far beyond an implementation period and effectively meant continued membership. The moves will land Mrs May back in hot water with her party’s Brexiteers.
It also set up a clash between Brussels and London over her hopes of negotiating early trade agreements with countries outside the EU.
Asked whether the PM’s goal of finishing talks by March 2019 was achievable, EU Council President Donald Tusk said it would be “dramatically difficult”, adding: “The second phase will be more demanding, more challenging.”
Mrs May faces another fight next week, with Tories preparing to rebel again to prevent her enshrining the March, 2019, Brexit date in law.
Even the smattering of applause for her from some of Europe’s 27 other leaders is a problem when it will inflame Tory Brextremists who know the PM crossed her own red lines, agreeing to pay up to £39billion to quit, merely to take an uncertain step forward.
Talks on Britain’s future relationship with our nearest neighbours and most valuable economic partners will determine what type of country we are to be for generations.
When the hard Brexit gang wants to risk job rights and turn Britain into a fatcats’ playground, the stakes have never been higher.