Raab says UK might miss deal deadline
THE UK and the European Union may not meet their self-imposed October deadline for a divorce deal, Britain’s Brexit minister said yesterday.
Dominic Raab insists he remains ‘stubbornly optimistic’ there will be agreement before Britain leaves the bloc in March.
Separately, Michel Barnier, his EU counterpart, sparked a rally in the value of the British pound when he said the bloc is willing to offer the UK terms never extended to a non-EU member.
Mr Raab said a deal in October remains the goal but admitted there is a ‘possibility it may creep beyond that’.
The Brexit secretary told a House of Lords committee that the two sides were aiming for October, ‘but there is some measure of leeway’.
Mr Raab said Britain and the EU were 80% of the way to a deal, and urged the bloc to show ‘pragmatism’ in the negotiations. ‘I’m confident that a deal is within our sights,’ he added.
The pound, which has fallen by more than 15% since Britain’s 2016 vote to leave the EU, rose sharply after Mr Barnier’s comment. In late afternoon London trading, the pound was 1% higher at $1.30.
Britain and the EU aim to hammer out an agreement on divorce terms and the outlines of future trade by a European Council summit in October so that it can be approved by individual EU countries before the UK leaves on March 29.
But talks have stalled amid divisions within Britain’s Conservative government over how close an economic relationship to seek with EU, and the UK has ramped up planning for a disruptive ‘no deal’ Brexit.
A proposed divorce agreement hammered out by prime minister Theresa May’s government last month proposes to keep the UK close to EU regulations in return for free trade in goods.
The plan has infuriated Brexitbackers in her party, who claim it would leave the UK tethered to the bloc and unable to strike new trade deals around the world. It has also been received coolly by EU leaders, who claim Britain wants to ‘cherry pick’ aspects of membership in the bloc without the full cost and responsibilities.
German foreign minister Heiko Maas said yesterday that if Britain was allowed to keep all the ‘good points’ of membership, other EU states could ask, ‘why are we members of the European Union at all if an exit doesn’t mean any actual disadvantages?’
At a news conference with Mr Maas in Berlin, Mr Barnier said negotiations with Britain had reached their ‘especially difficult’ final stretch.
I’m confident deal is in our sights