Furious Merkel fears Brexit leaks will cause even more EU upset
GERMANY’S Chancellor Angela Merkel is “furious” about the latest leaked reports of Theresa May’s private Brexit discussions, according to government sources in Berlin yesterday.
Officials said she was angry when an account of the Prime Minister’s recent meeting with European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker was leaked to a German newspaper.
The report, in the respected Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, claimed Mrs May had “begged” the EU chief for help in the negotiations over a dinner in Brussels last week.
Diplomats say the highly-partial account has raised tensions between the British and EU negotiating teams following hopes of accelerating progress at a summit last week.
A German government source said: “Angela Merkel is furious. It is known that she has lost patience with the British Conservatives but the last thing she wants is for Theresa May to be replaced in the middle of the Brexit negotiations.”
Mrs Merkel is understood to be nervous that German taxpayers could face a massive bill to bail out a cashstrapped EU if the British Government refuses to sign a Brexit deal.
And she is said to fear that the chances of a deal will plunge if Mrs May is ousted and replaced with a rival such as Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson.
Mr Juncker and his aides have been forced on to the defensive by the row. The European Commission president’s chief-of-staff Martin Selmayr rejected suggestions he leaked the account.
And Mr Juncker yesterday insisted to MEPs that Brussels was not “hostile” to Britain.
Speaking to the European Parliament in Strasbourg, he said: “The Commission is not negotiating in a hostile mood. We want a deal. Those who don’t want a deal – the no-dealers – they had no friends in the Commission.”
Westminster insiders believe the leaks are putting the talks in jeopardy.
One Tory MP loyal to Mrs May said: “What are the commission playing at? They need to get a grip, find out who is leaking this stuff and sack them.”
EU Council president Donald Tusk yesterday repeated his claim that Brexit might still be halted.
Updating the European Parliament in Strasbourg about last week’s Brussels summit, the Eurocrat claimed the choice between a deal, no deal or cancelling Brexit still lay with the UK.
He said: “Ahead of us is still the toughest stress test. If we fail it, the negotiations will end in our defeat. We must keep our unity regardless of the direction of the talks. The EU will be able to rise to every scenario as long as we are not divided.
“It is in fact up to London how this will end – with a good deal, no deal or no Brexit. But in each of these scenarios we will protect our common interest only by being together.”
Responding to Mr Tusk’s remarks on the UK being able to stop withdrawal, Mrs May’s spokesman said: “Brexit is not going to be reversed.”
Chancellor Philip Hammond yesterday said he is “confident” businesses will be given the Brexit certainty they need although he sidestepped calls to ensure transition principles are guaranteed by Christmas.
He acknowledged the principles of a transition period are “urgent and pressing”, also telling MPs the Government wants them agreed with the European Union “as soon as possible”. Labour’s shadow chancellor John McDonnell urged Mr Hammond to “face down” his opponents in Cabinet and state he will not support or vote for a no-deal Brexit.
He also challenged his counterpart to “stand up to the reckless Brexiteers” in the Conservative Party.