EU to UK: Come clean on Brexit plan or risk failure
■ Britain must clarify its stand on post- Brexit ties: EU
Brussels, June 29: The European Union issued a stark assessment of gridlocked Brexit talks Friday, saying there has been “no substantial progress” on the key issue of the Irish border and advising member states to ramp up preparations for the possibility of Britain crashing out of the bloc without a deal.
In conclusions at a Brussels summit, the 27 other EU nations told the UK it must produce “realistic and workable proposals” for what kind of postBrexit relationship it wants.
Brexit was relegated to a brief discussion at an EU summit whose main focus was easing a European political crisis over migration.
Frustrated EU officials say divisions within the British government over Brexit are blocking progress. As the EU’s chief negotiator invited UK officials back to Brussels on Monday for renewed talks, Prime Minister Theresa May said Britain was ready to “intensify and accelerate the pace of negotiations.
With nine months until the U. K. officially exits, the EU called for “intensified efforts” to get a deal, and said member states, EU institutions and businesses should “step up their work on preparedness at all levels and for all outcomes.”
The bloc said it was concerned “that no substantial progress has yet been achieved on agreeing a backstop solution for Ireland/ Northern Ireland” — one of the thorniest issue in the divorce talks.
Britain has promised to maintain an invisible border, free of customs posts and other infrastructure, between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.