The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
EU chief’s stark warning to May over ‘red lines’
Tusk tells PM there can be no frictionless trade after Britain leaves
Theresa May has been given a stark warning that her Brexit red lines will inevitably cause friction in trade between the UK and EU.
The Prime Minister chaired a meeting of Cabinet to approve her Brexit plans and met European Council president Donald Tusk for talks in Downing Street ahead of a keynote address on the UK’s future relationship with the EU.
But ahead of Mrs May’s speech today, Mr Tusk hit out at her Brexit “red lines” and defended the EU’s position in the row over the Irish border.
But he acknowledged that Mrs May’s position – that the UK will leave the single market and customs union – did mean that “substantive negotiations” could take place.
Ahead of his trip to Downing Street, Mr Tusk used a speech in Brussels to pour cold water on Mrs May’s hopes of achieving a Brexit deal which will allow trade to be “as frictionless as possible”.
Mr Tusk warned: “There can be no frictionless trade outside of the customs union and the single market.
“Friction is an inevitable side-effect of Brexit by nature.”
He also defended a draft legal text of the withdrawal agreement produced by the European Commission, which has been met by an angry response by Mrs May.
The Prime Minister strongly rejected parts of the text regarding the post-Brexit status of Northern Ireland, which she said would “threaten the constitutional integrity of the UK” by creating a border down the Irish Sea.
Mr Tusk said he was “absolutely sure that all the essential elements of the draft” would be accepted by the 27 remaining EU members and stressed that the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, had the support of the bloc’s leaders.
He said he wanted to know if the UK Government had a better idea that would be “as effective in preventing a hard border” in Ireland.
At their meeting in Number 10, Mr Tusk said “I’m not happy” with the Government’s red lines, but told Mrs May: “After your decision on no customs union and no single market, it’s some kind of breakthrough and we can start our substantive negotiations immediately.”
Responding to Mr Tusk’s comments, the PM’s spokesman said: “Given the size of the UK as a market place for the EU, it is in the interests of both sides to reach an agreement”.