EU to reject parallel talks on trade and divorce deal
EUROPEAN leaders will today reject British demands to hold trade talks at the same time as negotiating the terms of the UK’s divorce from the EU, leaving both sides heading for an early stand-off in the Brexit talks.
The tough EU response will be outlined in draft negotiating guidelines that will be distributed by the European Council to the remaining 27 member states at a closed-door meeting in Brussels.
Theresa May’s request that the terms of the future UK-EU partnership be negotiated “alongside” the terms of the divorce – rejected by Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, on Wednesday – was shot down again yesterday, this time by François Hollande, the outgoing French president.
“First we must begin discussions on the modalities of the withdrawal, especially on the rights of citizens and the obligations arising from the commitments that the United Kingdom has made,” Mr Hollande told Mrs May in a telephone conversation.
Mrs Merkel said she hoped that a future trade deal could be discussed “soon” but only after the thorny issue around Britain’s financial liabilities and the rights of EU citizens in Britain had been resolved first.
Mr Hollande echoed that position, saying he was happy to open discussions on the framework of future relations but only “on the basis of what progress is made” on those two dossiers.
It came as David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, denied claims that the UK is trying to “blackmail” the EU by threatening cooperation on security.
Guy Verhofstadt, chief negotiator at the European Parliament, yesterday suggested that the Government was trying to use terrorism cooperation as a “bargaining” chip.
Mr Davis denied this: “What the Prime Minister was saying was, if we have no deal – remember, what we want is a deal – it is bad for both of us.”
Mr Verhofstadt said that security is “so important” it should not be part of negotiations.
The draft guidelines, which have been drawn up by Donald Tusk, president of the European Council, will be circulated to member state capitals for a month of discussions ahead of an EU summit on April 29 to finalise it.
Once agreed, they will be converted into a detailed, legally binding negotiating “mandate” for Michel Barnier, the chief EU Brexit negotiator.
With Europe’s two major powers apparently in agreement on the issue, senior EU officials said that it was “highly unlikely” that the 27 EU members states would substantially shift their positions on the sequence of the talks.
However, Whitehall officials involved in preparations for the talks have told The Telegraph that they still believe the EU will demonstrate some flexibility when the time comes, and that Mrs May’s letter was well received in EU capitals.