Brexit bill: Who will blink first?
Tusk gives us 2-week deadline But May wants a deal on trade talks
BRUSSELS gave Theresa May a Brexit ultimatum yesterday, warning that she has only two weeks to offer significant concessions before talks can move on to trade.
European Council president Donald Tusk told the Prime Minister that Britain must make ‘much more progress’ on both the controversial ‘divorce’ payment and the future of Northern Ireland’s border with the Irish Republic.
The new deadline heaps pressure on Mrs May amid a bitter Cabinet split on how to meet the EU’s financial demands while breaking the deadlock in negotiations.
But it means Brussels has given Britain an extra week to make progress. The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, previously said the UK had to make concessions by next Friday.
Meanwhile, Dublin threatened to block moving the Brexit talks on to trade and the ‘transition’ period after Britain leaves the EU, unless the UK makes written promises to protect the Irish border.
The new Brussels approach emerged at a meeting of EU leaders in the Swedish city of Gothenburg, which was overshad- owed by the impasse in Brexit discussions. During a diplomatic blitz, involving meetings with Mr Tusk and French president Emmanuel Macron, Mrs May indicated she is preparing to increase the UK’s ‘divorce’ bill offer – currently estimated at around £18billion – amid EU demands for an estimated £53billion.
But faced with pressure from Cabinet ministers including Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Brexit Secretary David Davis not to pay the full £53billion, the Prime Minister called on Brussels to offer more assurances about a future trade deal first.
Speaking as she left Gothenburg last night, she said: ‘We are agreed that good progress has been made but there is more to be done.’
However, Mr Tusk told the Prime Minister she must significantly increase her present offer.
He warned that if concessions are not made by the end of this month he will tell EU leaders not to give the green light to talks on a trade deal and a ‘transition’ period after Brexit. ‘We will be ready to move on to the second phase in December, but in order to do that we need to see more progress from the UK side,’ Mr Tusk said.
‘While good progress on citizens’ rights is being made, we need to see much more progress on Ireland and on the financial settlement.’
Mr Tusk will meet Mrs May at a previously scheduled meeting in Brussels next Friday, at which the EU chief expects her to indicate how she plans to move forward.
Despite his strongly-worded demands, he struck a more positive tone as he left yesterday’s meeting by insisting ‘everything is possible’. He added: ‘We still have a chance to achieve our first goal. I am very cautious but optimistic.’
Earlier, Mr Davis suggested that Germany and France were seeking to block progress in Brexit talks, while other countries including Holland and Spain were eager to move on to trade negotiations.
He also revealed plans to stand down from the Cabinet when the Brexit process ‘comes to an end’, apparently ruling out suggestions he could become Prime Minister in the future.
Irish premier Leo Varadkar put up a further barrier to trade talks being started, telling Mrs May that pledging to pay the ‘divorce’ bill will not be enough.
He threatened to wield a veto to stop talks progressing unless the UK issues a legal guarantee over Ireland’s future after Brexit. ‘We want taken off the table any suggestion that there will be a physical border, a hard border, new barriers to trade on the island of Ireland,’ he said.
Insisting it is ‘certainly possible’ for trade talks to be given the goahead next month, Mr Varadkar said that EU leaders were willing to hold off until next year ‘for further concessions’.
The Prime Minister is understood to have told Mr Varadkar that a solution is ‘almost there’ during a meeting yesterday.
Senior Brussels officials indicated that member states will back Ireland’s hardline approach.
EU chiefs privately believe the UK is getting close to making a larger financial pledge, but think Mrs May could be put off by the ongoing Cabinet row about how much Britain should pay. ÷Mrs May’s plan to enshrine the Brexit date in law could cause ‘significant difficulties’ for ministers in negotiations with Brussels, the Commons Exiting the EU Committee claimed yesterday.
The decision to fix Britain’s exit from the EU as 11pm on March 29, 2019 was a late amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill put forward by the Prime Minister only last week.
Downing Street was yesterday standing by the bid to fix the date, but privately senior Tories believe the provision is likely to be dropped ahead of a vote on the issue.