May to build bridges with Macron as officials fail to agree Brexit talks start date
THE start of formal Brexit talks was delayed yesterday in the wake of the political uncertainty caused by Theresa May’s disastrous election result.
Michel Barnier, the EU’S chief negotiator, yesterday met Oliver Robbins, the most senior civil servant in David Davis’s Brexit department, but the two men failed to reach an agreement on a start date for talks.
Mr Barnier last night urged Britain not to waste any time in coming to the table for Brexit talks.
“My preoccupation is that time is passing, it is passing quicker than anyone believes because the subjects we have to deal with are extraordinarily complex,” he told The Financial Times. “I can’t negotiate with myself.” Mr Barnier said the EU would approach the talks with “no spirit of revenge” but “no naivety either”.
He said he wanted negotiations to be completed by November 2018 to allow time for the agreements to be ratified in British and European parliaments to meet the schedule for the March 2019 exit date, which he said should not be pushed back.
Mrs May will this evening start trying to rebuild her authority when she visits Emmanuel Macron, France’s new president, in Paris.
The Prime Minister hopes to make an ally of Mr Macron before the formal opening of Brexit negotiations.
The pair will discuss counter-terror- ism in the wake of the recent attacks in London before heading to watch England play France in an international football friendly. The trip to Paris was planned weeks before Mrs May lost her majority in the election, but could not have come at a more welcome time for the Prime Minister.
Mrs May and Mr Macron will announce joint plans to fine social media companies such as Facebook, Twitter and Google if they fail to remove extremist content from their websites.
She will hope to use the meeting to build significant bridges ahead of Brexit negotiations after Mr Macron’s predecessor, François Hollande, threatened to “punish” the UK. There are fears Mr Macron, an ardent proeuropean who is fresh from a landslide victory, could harden France’s already tough stance on Brexit.
Speaking ahead of the visit, Mrs May said: “We are united in our total condemnation of terrorism and our commitment to stamp out this evil.”
Brexit talks were due to open on Monday next week but Mr Davis, the Secretary of State for Leaving the European Union, said yesterday they are now likely to take place later in the week. Mrs May needs to publish her Queen’s Speech, which will set out her legislative programme, before she
‘We are united in our total condemnation of terrorism and our commitment to stamp out this evil’
starts the negotiations.
Angela Merkel signalled yesterday that the triumph of Mr Macron’s new centrist party in the first round of France’s parliamentary elections paves the way for deeper EU integration.
The German chancellor congratulated the French president on “a strong vote for reforms” as a Franco-german working group draws up proposals for closer eurozone cooperation, to be presented next month.
The two leaders agreed last month to draw up a road map for greater EU integration that could entail treaty changes, previously considered a taboo.
A joint push to relaunch the EU and the eurozone by the currency bloc’s two largest economies could generate unstoppable momentum for ambitious reforms.
But the expected landslide victory for Mr Macron’s party in the final parliamentary poll on Sunday may also mean tougher Brexit negotiations.
The French and German leaders want to maintain the timetable for Britain’s exit from the EU, clearing the way for them to shape the bloc’s future.
Proposals by Mr Macron for a joint eurozone budget, parliament and finance minister initially raised fears in Germany that Berlin could be forced to pay for struggling countries that resist reform.
But Mrs Merkel said her government was ready to discuss Mr Macron’s proposals after he denied German media reports that he was in favour of turning the national debts of eurozone countries into shared eurozone debt.
Germany’s deputy finance minister, Jens Spahn, said yesterday that Berlin was open to the idea of a eurozone finance minister, provided the role and responsibilities were clearly defined.
Mr Spahn, a senior member of Mrs Merkel’s centre-right party, said Germany was also willing to increase its funding for European investment projects. He expressed the hope that Mr Macron will enact reforms to boost economic growth in France.
Mr Macron’s expected parliamentary majority will strengthen his hand in a showdown with France’s militant trade unions as he loosens rigid employment laws to end economic stagnation. The labour reforms were a cornerstone of his election campaign.
The rout of the Socialists after Mr Hollande’s disastrous five-year presidency clears the way for a raft of business-friendly policies.
The former banker, who has redrawn the French political landscape at the age of 39, plans to push through his labour reforms by presidential decree before September, a move likely to spark street protests by unions.