EU breaks deadlock to save May

PM ‘plays the Boris card’ to leave Brussels fearing a change of regime in No10

EU LEADERS softened their stance significantly on Brexit talks yesterday amid fears in Brussels that Theresa May’s Government could collapse if negotiations remain deadlocked.

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, said she was now in “absolutely no doubt” that the EU and the UK could make a success of negotiations as she accepted for the first time that both sides must make concessions.

Donald Tusk, the European Council president, said talk of deadlock had been “exaggerated”, while Jean-claude Juncker, the European Commission president, said he was determined to “have a fair deal” with the UK.

However, Emmanuel Macron, the French president, took a much firmer line by saying that Mrs May’s offer of €20billion to settle the Brexit bill was “not halfway there”, while Mrs May failed to rule out paying as much as €60billion as a final settlement.

Mrs May has urged the leaders of the other 27 EU countries to give her a deal she can “defend” back home, and British officials in Brussels have highlighted the “political difficulty” she faces with pressure from Tory Eurosceptics for her to walk away without a deal.

EU leaders responded yesterday, agreeing to start internal discussions on trade and transition talks in time for negotiations with the UK in December.

One senior EU source suggested that Mrs May had effectively “played the Boris card” referring to concerns in Europe that Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, could succeed her and take a far more hardline approach to Brexit.

One Tory minister said that Mrs May was effectively being “propped up” by the EU and was demonstrating that “political weakness can be a strength”.

The European Council meeting in Brussels marked the EU’S original target date for trade talks to begin, but that deadline has slipped to the next meeting in December over EU concerns of insufficient progress on money, citizens’ rights and the Irish border.

After the EU leaders’ meeting, Mrs Merkel said: “If we are all clear in our minds, I have absolutely no doubt that we can reach a good result… I see the ball not only in the UK’S court but I also see it in our court to the same extent.”

Mr Tusk said he wanted to be the “positive motivator” in the talks, adding: “Our ambition is to achieve this, the final of the first phase in December,” while Mr Juncker said: “I hate the ‘nodeal’ scenario. I want to have a fair deal with Britain.”

Mrs May said she welcomed the decision by the EU to begin “scoping” its position on a future trade deal but conceded that there was still “some way to go” before a breakthrough.

Senior EU diplomats spoken to by The Daily Telegraph made no secret of their anger with Mr Johnson and other British political figures talking of “no deal”. One senior diplomat from a major EU power said: “Not even David Davis believes that [no deal is the best option], and certainly not Theresa May, but we take the risk seriously even though it would be suicidal for the UK.”

Mr Macron insisted there was no question of the EU softening its demands to help Mrs May avoid political problems at home. “It’s not about making concessions,” he said.

BRITAIN must accept a Brexit bill of at least €40billion to unlock trade talks with the EU, Emmanuel Macron said yesterday as Theresa May failed to rule out paying an even bigger final total.

The French president said Mrs May’s current offer of €20billion is “not halfway there” and Britain would need to make a “substantial financial effort” to move the talks on.

The Prime Minister insisted the size of the “full and final settlement” would not emerge until all aspects of Brexit had been agreed. However, asked whether Britain could end up paying “many more billions” than has been offered, even up to €60billion – the EU’S rumoured target – Mrs May would only say that the Brexit department will go through Britain’s financial commitments “line by line” before a crunch EU summit in December.

The Prime Minister hopes the next European Council meeting in two months’ time will be the moment EU leaders finally give the go-ahead for the start of negotiations on a trade deal. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany accepted for the first time that both sides must give ground for negotiations to progress, while Donald Tusk, the European Council president, said talk of deadlock was “exaggerated”.

The leaders of the other 27 EU countries agreed yesterday to begin talking among themselves about their position on a trade deal so that talks with the UK can get under way speedily if they are given the go-ahead in December.

They issued a statement expressing a wish to move on to trade talks “as soon as possible” but noted that Britain has made no “firm and concrete commitment” over the Brexit bill. Mr Macron said “much work needs to be done”. He went on: “I would say we are far from having reached the necessary financial commitments before we can open phase two. We are not halfway there.”

Mrs Merkel said a breakthrough in December “depends to a large extent” on the UK, adding: “The topic of financial commitments is the dominating issue in that regard.” Crucially, however, she also acknowledged that “both sides have to move” and “I see the ball with Great Britain but at the same time I also see it with us”. Asked whether she would deliver further details on the divorce bill in time to secure progress in two months’ time, Mrs May said: “I’m positive and optimistic about where we can get to in relation to the future partnership that we want with the EU, because it is not only in the interests of the British people, it is in the interests of people across the remaining 27 members of the EU as well.”

She said that Britain will also pay “relevant costs” of continued participation in EU projects that it still wanted to be a part of, in areas including science, research and criminal justice. Mr Tusk said: “The negotiations go on and we will continue to approach them positively and constructively. I hope that we will be able to move to the second phase of our talks in December.” Jean-claude Juncker, the European Commission president, said: “Our working assumption is not the ‘no-deal’ scenario.”

Border officials will have more than twice as many decisions regarding immigration and customs checks after Brexit, the National Audit Office (NAO) has warned. But it said that in some areas there was a reliance on “outdated technology” and manual processes.