May warns EU: Grow up (and we won’t negotiate Brexit in French)
THERESA May demanded a grownup attitude from EU leaders last night as she crushed an attempt to hold Brexit negotiations in French.
It came after the Prime Minister was given just five minutes to discuss withdrawal from the EU over a working dinner at her first EU summit.
After two days of sniping from leaders in Brussels, she said they should seek a ‘mature, co-operative’ relationship with the UK.
The EU’s lead Brexit negotiator, former French foreign minister Michel Barnier, wants the divorce negotiations to be conducted in his language, according to a source.
European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has said the EU must be ‘intransigent’ in defending its principles in the talks.
But at a post-summit news conference, Mrs May flatly rejected the idea that discussions would not take place in English, saying: ‘We will conduct the negotiations in the way that is going to make sure we get the right deal for the United Kingdom.’
She told EU leaders who had given her a frosty reception at the European Council summit: ‘I want a mature, co-operative relationship with our European partners.
‘I recognise the scale of the challenge ahead. I am sure there will be difficult moments. It will require some give and take.
‘But I firmly believe that if we approach this in a constructive spirit, as I am, then we can have a smooth departure and build a powerful new relationship that works for both the UK and for the countries of the EU – looking for opportunities, not problems.’
She restated her commitment to Britain regaining control of its borders, which EU leaders insist will force it to quit the single market.
The Prime Minister also said the UK will not be deterred from seeking trade deals with other countries while negotiations on leaving the EU take place. Some Eurocrats have insisted they want Britain to sit on its hands until Brexit is complete. Mrs May said: ‘The
‘Not backward in coming forward’
UK will be a fully independent sovereign country, free to make our own decisions on a whole host of issues, such as how we choose to control immigration, but we still want to trade freely in goods and services with Europe.
‘That is in British interests and it is in the interests of all of our European partners, too. It is about seizing the opportunities of Brexit.’
Mrs May was given just five minutes to discuss Brexit at the end of a dinner lasting more than five hours, but insisted she had not been ‘backwards in coming forwards’ on other subjects such as imposing sanctions on Russia.
Insiders said that after her Brexit presentation, the other leaders sat in stony silence.
She angered some EU figures by saying she expects Britain to be at the centre of European decision-making until Brexit takes place.
Manfred Weber, leader of the Christian Democrats in the European Parliament, said: ‘When somebody wants to leave a club, it is not normal that such a member wants to decide about the future of this club. That is really creating a lot of anger about the behaviour of the British Government.’
Mrs May told her fellow leaders there was no prospect of Britain reversing the Brexit vote but European Council president Donald Tusk continued to insist it might.
He said the question of whether the referendum decision is reversible or not ‘is in the British hands’, adding: ‘I’d be the happiest one if it is reversible.’
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said: ‘It is going to be rough going… but what (Mrs May) said is OK. It’s a good foundation to work with Great Britain.’
French president Francois Hollande said there would be no negotiations with Britain until Article 50 is triggered early next year to begin the withdrawal process.
Mrs May met Mr Juncker yesterday afternoon and told him the UK ‘would need to see controls on the numbers of people who come to Britain from Europe as well as a positive outcome for those who wish to trade in goods and services’, a No 10 spokesman said.
Behind the scenes, EU officials claimed they had been told to prepare for the possibility of a socalled ‘dirty Brexit’ without any divorce agreement at the end of the two-year negotiating period.
Mr Barnier later insisted no decision had been taken on the language for the negotiations.
Meanwhile, the UK’s former European commissioner was accused of betraying the country yesterday after he dismissed ‘hard Brexit’ as ‘stupid Brexit’.
Jonathan Hill, who quit the £200,000 job after the referendum,
‘The elite are out to halt Brexit’
said the Prime Minister should compromise with the EU rather than rock the boat in negotiations.
The Tory peer, who will get a payoff package worth £275,000, took aim at Cabinet ‘Brexiteers’ urging Mrs May to prioritise getting back control of migration rather than keeping the status quo on trade. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘If we approach it in a sensible way… there is more scope for trying to resolve it intelligently than if we go at it in a way where we all end up shouting at each other.
‘We have this kind of false choice in the UK often between “hard Brexit” and “soft Brexit”. The choice is between stupid Brexit and more intelligent Brexit.’
Conservative MEP David Campbell Bannerman said: ‘This relentless talking down of our strong negotiating position is a betrayal of our country’s interests.’
Ukip MP Douglas Carswell wrote on Twitter: ‘Pro EU technocrat opposes actually leaving the EU – SHOCK. The elite really are out to halt Brexit. Trouble coming.’
Andrew Bridgen, Tory MP for North West Leicestershire, said: ‘People like Lord Hill obviously don’t understand the principles of democracy. The Prime Minister has made it plain the referendum result was clear – and that we’re leaving.’
He added: ‘During the referendum campaign, being in the EU was compared to being in the back seat of a car towards a destination where we don’t want to go.
‘But if we left the EU and stayed in the single market – the soft Brexit option – we wouldn’t even be in the car. We’d be tied up in the boot and they could bury us where they wanted.’