Merkel to pull plug on Brexit summit as UK has ‘further issues’ to be resolved
Spain and France demand last-minute concessions over Gibraltar sovereignty and fishing rights
Gordon Rayner
James Crisp
THERESA MAY’S attempts to finalise her Brexit deal with Brussels failed last night, casting doubt over whether a special EU leaders’ summit to sign off the text will go ahead this weekend.
Mrs May unexpectedly announced she would return to Brussels on Saturday for meetings with Jean-claude Juncker because there are “further issues that need resolution”.
Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, had previously made it clear she would pull the plug on Sunday’s summit if a text of the deal was not ready today, suggesting that the meeting could now be off.
Mrs May’s teatime meeting with Mr Juncker was meant to be the last time she saw the president of the European Commission before attending Sunday’s summit to rubber-stamp the deal with the other 27 EU leaders. But she said: “I now plan to return for further meetings, including with President Juncker, on Saturday to discuss how we can bring to a conclusion this process and bring it to a conclusion in the interests of all our people.
“There are some further issues that need resolution. We have given direction to our negotiators this evening. The work on those issues will now start immediately. I believe we have been able to give sufficient direction for them to be able to resolve those remaining issues.”
Mrs May insisted “further progress” had been made in her meeting with Mr Juncker, but she made no mention of Sunday’s summit. The Prime Minister is under intense pressure from Brexiteers to seek further concessions from Brussels, particularly over the Irish “backstop”, and will be keen to show them she is fighting to the last minute.
However, EU officials had wanted the deal set in stone by today to enable officials to scrutinise it line by line. Mrs May’s unexpected announcement throws doubt over whether that can now be achieved before Sunday.
One alternative would be for the deal to be agreed at the next regular meeting of EU leaders in mid-december.
The status of the summit was already in doubt even before Mrs May’s meeting, as Mrs Merkel was unhappy with other member states trying to wring concessions out of negotiators.
Yesterday, Pedro Sánchez, the Spanish prime minister, demanded “shared sovereignty” over Gibraltar, while France continues to push for extra assurances over fishing rights.
Other countries are demanding more detail on fair competition guarantees to prevent the UK undercutting EU standards on tax, state aid and the environment.
Mrs Merkel made it clear she was running out of patience, saying: “We know how difficult the discussions are in Britain, but I can say for Germany we will agree to this exit agreement. We still have an objection in Spain. I can’t say exactly how we solve this issue, but I hope it will be solved by Sunday.”
The German ambassador is understood to have told his fellow officials that the Brexit deal had to be finalised by today or the chancellor “would not attend” the summit on Sunday.
Spain has threatened to block the deal unless it has a veto over the trade deal applying to Gibraltar. Britain has rejected EU overtures to mention Gibraltar in the political declaration and Mrs May told the Commons yesterday that the territory “is covered by our exit negotiations”.
Asked if Sunday’s special EU summit to sign off the Brexit deal could be cancelled because of the talks deadlock, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “A summit has been called, an agenda has been published and we look forward to attending.”