EU’s Brexit stalling is risking lives, May warns leaders
EU leaders risk having blood on their hands if they continue stalling on Brexit, Theresa May warned last night.
The Prime Minister said Europe’s ability to tackle terrorism and serious crime was being ‘put at risk’ by the lack of agreement on a security deal.
Ministers are furious at the insistence by Brussels that the UK must be treated like any other ‘third country’ after Brexit and should no longer be trusted with sensitive security information. British sources accused the EU of placing ‘obstacles’ in the way of security co-operation.
Mrs May said the stance would make it impossible to continue co-operation on security at the existing level, potentially putting lives at risk.
The warning came as a Brussels summit threatened to descend into acrimony.
Several EU leaders rounded on Mrs May over divisions in the UK which they blame for the lack of progress on Brexit. European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker pointed to Mrs May’s ‘split Cabinet’, and said the EU would have to step up preparations for no deal.
Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte suggested it was not clear who was in charge in the UK following recent battles in parliament and the Cabinet.
And Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said the UK had to accept it would be a junior partner after Brexit.
EU leaders will meet today without Mrs May to discuss their
next move on Brexit. In a direct appeal last night, she told them: ‘I would ask you to consider what is in the best interests of the safety of your citizens and mine and give your negotiators a mandate which will allow us to achieve this crucial objective.’
The Prime Minister said the UK was committed to the future security of Europe and wanted to maintain the maximum co-operation. But she added: ‘Our ability to do so is being put at risk.
‘The existing legal frameworks for third countries will not allow us to realise the ambitious future security partnership that I believe is in all our interests.
‘Under the current position, the UK and EU would no longer be able to share information through key databases that allow our law enforcement to protect all European citizens.
‘We would no longer be able to share realtime alerts for wanted persons including serious criminals. We would be able to respond less swiftly to alerts for missing people from either side of the Channel and reunite them with their loved ones.
‘And our collective ability to map terrorist networks across Europe and bring those responsible to justice would be reduced.’
EU leaders arrived at the summit with a tough message for her.
Asked if a Brexit deal was at risk, Mr Rutte said: ‘I don’t want to talk in apocalyptic terms, but what I want to say is I believe the first, second and third priority now is to solve this issue of the Irish border.’
Mr Varadkar, who held talks with Mrs May last night, said: ‘Any relationship in the future between the EU and UK isn’t going to be one of absolute equals.
‘We’re 27 member states, the EU is one country, we’re 500million people, the UK is 60million, so that basic fact needs to be realised and understood.’
He added: ‘We expected there would be progress at this summit in June like there was in March and December. There hasn’t been so what I will be saying to Prime Minister May is that we all need to intensify our efforts now.
‘All of us want there to be a deal, we need a deal, Europe needs a deal and Britain needs a deal.’
Mr Juncker said: ‘I don’t have to lecture Theresa May, but I would like our British friends to make clear their position.
‘We cannot go on to live with a split cabinet. They have to say what they want and we will respond to that. We are preparing, in parallel, on a no deal. We have to do it.’
Arriving at the summit, Mrs May said: ‘Both sides are keen to continue the work at a faster pace than we have done up till now and certainly we’d welcome that.
Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith last night said Mrs May should walk out of the talks if other EU countries continue to try to ‘bully Britain’.