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EU leaders agree on tough stance at special Brexit summit
EU leaders agree on tough stance at special Brexit summit
(about 1 hour later)
European Union leaders have unanimously agreed to tough negotiating guidelines for Brexit talks with the UK, suggesting that they will demand Britain agrees on payments to the bloc before considering a new trade deal.
EU leaders have unanimously agreed tough negotiating guidelines for Brexit talks with the UK, suggesting they will demand Britain agrees on payments to the bloc before considering a new trade deal.
The heads of the remaining 27 countries agreed to adopt the draft guidelines issued by Donald Tusk last month less than 15 minutes into a special summit in Brussels on Saturday. The European council president tweeted that a “firm and fair political mandate” for the negotiations was now ready.
The heads of the remaining 27 countries agreed to adopt the draft guidelines issued by Donald Tusk last month less than 15 minutes into a special summit in Brussels on Saturday.
The EU is expected to demand that Britain resolves the key divorce issues of citizens’ rights, the divorce bill and the Irish border before any talks on a future trade deal between the UK and the EU can begin.
The European council president tweeted that a “firm and fair political mandate” for the negotiations was now ready. A senior EU source said the leaders’ decision took only one minute of discussion.
Tusk, the president of the council, whose members comprise the EU states, said ahead of the meeting on Saturday: “We all want a close and strong future relationship with the UK. There’s absolutely no question about it. But before discussing the future, we have to sort out our past. We will handle it with genuine care, but firmly. This is, I think, the only possible way to move forward.
When the formal negotiations between the EU and the UK begin in June, the British government will be told it needs to resolve the key divorce issues of citizens’ rights, the estimated €60bn (£51bn) divorce bill and the Irish border before any talks on a future trade deal can begin.
“We also need solid guarantees for all citizens and their families who will be affected by Brexit, on both sides. This must be the number one priority for the EU and the UK.”
As he arrived at the summit earlier in the day, the French president, François Hollande, said: “There will inevitably be a price and a cost for Britain, it’s the choice they made.
The EU has taken some confidence from the fact that Theresa May has not recently repeated her claim that “no deal is better than a bad deal”, despite being pushed to do so by politicians in favour of a hard Brexit.
“We must not be punitive, but at the same time it’s clear that Europe knows how to defend its interests, and that Britain will have a less good position outside the EU than in the EU.”
The comments were echoed by the Belgian prime minister, Charles Michel, who said there was no such thing as a “free Brexit”.
Asked about the British prime minister’s claim that she will be strengthened by an election victory, Hollande, who is now in his last week as president, said: “That is an election argument that I can understand, but this is not an argument against the European Union. Why? Because the bases, the principles, the objectives are already fixed. These will be the lines that will be chosen by the negotiators and there will be no others.”
Luxembourg’s prime minister, Xavier Bettel, also ruled out the idead of Theresa May gaining any advantage from an election win. “It’s an internal problem she wants to resolve in the Conservative party, to have not a hard Brexit or a soft Brexit, but Theresa’s Brexit,” he said. “We are very united. You seem surprised, but it’s a fact.”
The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, said it was in Britain’s interests for the EU to be unified, as it would boost the chances of a deal.
“This extraordinary meeting shows the unity of the 27 on a clear line, but this unity is not directed against Britain, I think that it is also in its interest,” he said.
The Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, said that only once there was sufficient trust between the EU nations and Britain on the core issues could both sides proceed to discuss future relations.
Rutte, who stressed the importance of Britain to the Dutch economy, told reporters that “as you get to a certain level, as far as possible, and say now we are confident about this, then we have to swiftly start talking about the future relationships trade and also politics”.
The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, had earlier in the week accused some in the UK of being deluded about the consequences of leaving the EU, but offered a softer tone in Brussels.
“We want to have good relations with Great Britain in the future, but we want to represent our interests as the 27. So far this has been a real success”, she said.
“We will hold the negotiations on separation first and then at a certain point when the substantive points in the separation negotations we will come to a point when we can talk about the future
“The separation negotiations on the rights of citizens of our states in the UK and of UK citizens in the EU. Also financial questions are part of the separation questions.”
There is some pessimism in Brussels about the prospect of a deal being struck over the next two years, though some EU officials have taken heart from the fact that May has not recently repeated her claim that “no deal is better than a bad deal” despite being pushed to do so by politicians in favour of a hard Brexit.
“We are convinced that no deal is in no one’s interest. We appreciate the fact that the tone of the debate in the UK on this issue has changed,” said a senior EU official on Friday.
“We are convinced that no deal is in no one’s interest. We appreciate the fact that the tone of the debate in the UK on this issue has changed,” said a senior EU official on Friday.
Asked to respond to claims from the prime minister on the general election campaign trail that member states were preparing to “line up to oppose us”, one senior EU diplomat admitted: “She’s right. She should not underestimate the commitment to unity.”
Asked, however, to respond to May’s claims on the general election campaign trail that member states were preparing to “line up to oppose us”, one senior EU diplomat said: “She’s right. She should not underestimate the commitment to unity.”
The leaders are also set to back automatic EU membership for Northern Ireland if it votes in the future to reunify with Ireland, and will call for Spain to have a say over any deal that affects Gibraltar in a document detailing the European council’s negotiating guidelines, which will set the broad political goals of the 27 states when talks start in June.
During a working lunch to approve the position drafted by officials, leaders will furthermore discuss for the first time the relocation of EU medical and banking agencies that are currently based in London. The European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, along with Tusk, is expected to offer an indication of the selection criteria that will be used to choose between the many states bidding.
Dublin presented its request over Northern Ireland and the implications of reunification in the future during a meeting of EU ambassadors last Wednesday, it is understood. “There was no discussion, because there was no need for a discussion”, an EU source said. “There is total agreement.”
The first of the key issues the EU guidelines say Britain must resolve, however, is the fate of 3 million EU citizens living in Britain and 1 million Britons on the continent, and what happens to their rights to work and claim benefits abroad.
Leaks suggest the leaders believe that any EU national who moves to the UK before the withdrawal date should have all the rights they would have expected in the past, including that of being able to enjoy permanent residency status once they have lived in the UK for five years, no matter when that period of residence begins.
The EU27 will also call for action to avoid a “hard border” between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, as fears persist that Brexit could undermine the peace process.
The most contentious issue, however, is likely to be Britain’s exit bill, estimated at around €60bn (£50.4bn), covering financial commitments made by the bloc during Britain’s time as a member.
Only once “sufficient progress” has been made in the talks on these issues, will the European council countenance talks about the future relationship.
Asked what sufficient progress would mean in relation to the UK’s divorce bill, a senior EU diplomat said the European council’s guidelines were quite explicit about what would be expected and that there would be little “wiggle room”.
“In terms of financial liabilities they go beyond the withdrawal date,” the source said, adding that it would be unthinkable, for example, for the UK to no longer be liable for EU loans that go wrong decades down the line. “I think it is going to be a rather difficult discussion in terms of what liabilities must be included and what can be excluded.
“You can expect a very ambitious position from the EU27 because if we admit that this and that can be excluded it follows there will be problems when we as a 27 have budget discussions in the future.
“I think we should expect a tough line on that issue and it is certainly something the nations will demand from the chief negotiator [Michel Barnier]. We will present clear limits in terms of wriggle room”.
The guidelines state: “A single financial settlement – including issues resulting from the MFF [the multi-annual financial framework that sets the budget for the next five years] as well as those related to the European Investment Bank, the European Development Fund and the European Central Bank – should ensure that the union and the United Kingdom both respect the obligations resulting from the whole period of the UK membership in the union.
“The settlement should cover all commitments as well as liabilities, including contingent liabilities.”
