No-deal Brexit will ‘break EU’S own laws’

Ministers warn Brussels that Lisbon Treaty requires ‘special relationship’ with Britain

BRUSSELS will be guilty of breaching its own laws if it refuses to compromise on Brexit, ministers have warned their European counterparts.

The EU “keeps stalling” and is bringing the prospect of no deal ever closer, they say, even though the Lisbon Treaty requires it to pursue a workable arrangement with Britain.

Senior Whitehall sources said last night that if the UK crashed out of Europe without a deal “we will make it clear whose fault it was”.

They say Article 8 of the treaty states that the EU must “develop a special relationship with neighbouring countries, aiming to establish an area of prosperity and good neighbourliness, founded on the values of the Union and characterised by close and peaceful relations based on cooperation”.

David Davis, the former Brexit secretary, warned Brussels it would be making a “massive miscalculation” if it thought Britain was not ready to walk away without a deal.

It came after Liam Fox, the International Trade Secretary, said a no-deal Brexit was now a “60-40” probability because of the “intransigence” of the European Commission.

Dr Fox said the “theological obsession of the unelected” in Brussels was standing in the way of a deal being agreed because it was taking “priority over the economic well-being of the people of Europe”.

Downing Street insisted that Theresa May was still “confident” of getting a good deal, but there was no rebuke for Dr Fox over his comments.

No 10 has remained silent on Mrs May’s meeting with Emmanuel Macron, the French president, since they discussed Brexit on Friday, which has been interpreted as a sign that she failed to make any progress.

The October deadline for a deal to be agreed is widely expected to slip, and the Government is talking up the prospect of no deal in the hope of focusing the minds of EU leaders.

A senior Whitehall source said: “We have made an offer that some people think is on the generous side and the EU has to know we are not kidding.

“If they don’t like our offer they need to come back and say what the alternative is, but they can’t just keep stalling.

“They also need to accept that we’ve done nothing wrong. We left under the terms of the Lisbon Treaty, which says they have obligations to help us.

“The way they are behaving is making things difficult and if we end up with no deal we will make it clear whose fault it was.”

Mr Davis said: “The Lisbon Treaty requires them to come up with a workable arrangement and that’s certainly not the description of their behaviour at the moment.”

He told The Daily Telegraph there was a danger of a no-deal Brexit happening because of a “misjudgment” by the EU that the UK Parliament would do anything to secure a deal.

He said: “It’s certainly not the inten- tion of the EU to have a no-deal Brexit but they are misjudging us at the moment. The UK Parliament does not want no deal but it’s certainly not going to be pushed around by the European Parliament.

“This is a negotiation and it will go to the edge, but we must not panic about this. They have got lots to lose too, and

specific countries and specific sectors have got large amounts to lose.”

Dr Fox told The Sunday Times that the European Commission’s chief Brexit negotiator had dismissed good ideas from Britain simply “because we have never done it before” making “the chance of no deal greater”.

He added: “If they don’t like the one [deal] we have put on the table then it’s down to them to show us one... that would be acceptable to us.”

Jeremy Hunt, the Foreign Secretary, warned French ministers that the EU was risking a no-deal Brexit “by accident” which would mean “jobs lost in Europe as well”.

EU diplomats have said that neither Mr Macron nor Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, had moved their position since the Chequers proposals were agreed by the Cabinet last month.

Meanwhile, Bombardier, the aircraft manufacturer, warned that a no-deal Brexit would cost its Belfast business up to £30 million. The plant operates a “just in time” production line, with parts coming in from across the EU only when needed. The firm said fears of a no-deal exit were forcing it to consider stocking excess parts.

An Economists for Free Trade report estimated a no-deal Brexit would cost the 27 EU member states £500billion in tariffs and extra payments to Brussels. Each would lose an average of 1.5 per cent of their GDP, with Ireland losing 4 per cent. Germany would lose £61billion in trade deals.

A Downing Street spokesman said: “We are urging Brussels and the... EU27 to... make sure we avoid a no-deal Brexit. The fact is that we are ramping up our no-deal preparations, as was planned, because there was always a possibility of no deal. We remain confident of getting a good deal.”