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Juncker and May fail to reach Brexit deal amid DUP doubts over Irish border Juncker and May fail to reach Brexit deal amid DUP doubts over Irish border
(about 1 hour later)
An agreement struck between Britain and the EU to move to the next phase of Brexit talks was torpedoed by a last-minute disagreement over the Irish border with the Democratic Unionist party on Monday, to the embarrassment of Theresa May. . Theresa May’s political weakness was brutally exposed to Brussels on Monday as an agreement struck between Britain and the EU to solve the problem of the Irish border and move to the next phase of Brexit talks was torpedoed by a last-minute telephone call with the leader of the Democratic Unionist party.
The EU and British negotiators had appeared confident that progress would be made earlier in the day following an agreement with the Irish Republic that Northern Ireland would remain “aligned” with EU laws in the future to avoid a hard border. Confidence early on Monday that an agreement was within reach came to nothing when, during a working lunch with the European commission president, Jean Claude Juncker, May was forced to pause discussions to take a call from Arlene Foster.
The deal spectacularly fell apart, however, as details of the accord emerged. By the end of a lunch between May and the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, in Brussels,hopes of a breakthrough were dashed – for now. The unionist leader, whose party currently provides the Tories with a working majority in the Commons, told the British prime minister that she could not support Downing Street’s planned commitment to keep Northern Ireland aligned with EU laws.
In a telephone call between May and Arlene Foster, the leader of the DUP – which has an arrangement giving the Conservatives a working majority in the Commons – the unhappiness of the unionists was made clear to the British prime minister. In London, Tory Brexiters, including Iain Duncan Smith and Jacob Rees-Mogg, told the Brexit minister Steve Baker, and the prime minister’s chief of staff, Gavin Barwell, that they were also rallying behind the DUP’s stance.
The Irish prime minister, Leo Varadkar, told reporters that he was “disappointed and surprised” that an agreement reached between Ireland and Britain on Monday morning had become unacceptable to Downing Street just a few hours later. Lord Trimble, a former first minister of Northern Ireland told the Guardian said Tory MPs at the meeting had shown ‘unanimous backing’ for opposition to the draft proposal he said was ‘minted in Dublin’.
Varadkar said: “I don’t think it would be helpful for me to ascribe any blame. It is evident that things broke down, became problematic during the lunch in Brussels.” The development raises fresh questions about May’s ability to deliver on any deal she proposes to the 27 member states, and has filled diplomats in Brussels with a deep foreboding for future talks, should they develop in the new year to take in the future relationship.
His deputy foreign minister had gone on national radio just after 1pm to announce that a deal was close with “a positive statement for the country” from the taoiseach planned for the afternoon. Diplomats were waiting two hours in a negotiating room at the Council of Ministers headquarters, for a meeting that had been planned to follow the Juncker-May lunch. When it became clear the two sides could not get an agreement, the officials were sent home.
Leaks early in the day had suggested that the British had been ready to bow to the Republic’s demands on giving Northern Ireland a special status, and it appears to have been this development which prompted a unionist backlash. The delay also takes the EU into unusual territory, as member states will have less than a week to approve an agreement that many have not yet seen.
A draft 15-page joint statement from the European commission and the UK stated that “in the absence of agreed solutions the UK will ensure that there continues to be continued regulatory alignment” with the internal market and customs union. Some EU diplomats are increasingly concerned about Juncker’s extension of the deadline, billed as “the extension of the very last round”.
Yet within minutes of the agreement being made public, it became clear that the DUP were not willing partners, withFoster insisting, both publicly and in a call with May, that her party had not agreed to the wording. The text of the agreement has to be discussed in 27 national capitals, if EU leaders are to sign it off at a summit on 14-15 December. “The less time we have before the European council, the more difficult it becomes to run the text through 27 national administrations and get an agreement,” said one. “It is [the UK’s] decision to leave it to the last minute and it is [the UK’s] risk.”
The Scottish first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, then made the claim that an agreement to keep Northern Ireland aligned with EU laws could now be made available to Scotland. That was followed by similar suggestions from the London mayor, Sadiq Khan. Juncker and May attempted to put a brave face on the spectacular collapse of their plans in press statements at the end of the day. The commission president praised May for being a “tough negotiator” who was energetically fighting for Britain’s interests.
May and Jean-Claude Juncker were forced to admit at the end of the day of talks in Brussels that it had not been possible to strike a Brexit deal. May insisted that progress was in sight and that the negotiators would reassemble by the end of the week, with Wednesday evening now sketched into officials diaries. “On many of the issues there is a common understanding and crucially it is clear we want to move forward together”, May told reporters. “There are a couple of issues, some differences do remain, which require further negotiation and consultation. And those will continue but we will reconvene before the end of the week and I am also confident we will conclude this positively.”
The UK prime minister told reporters in a statement that there remained outstanding issues on which work needed to be done. She said negotiators from both sides would re-engage by the end of the week. Government sources made clear that there were two key sticking points yet to be solved in the negotiations with the EU27 - the role of the European Court of Justice when it came to citizen rights and the Irish border.
She said: “There are a couple of issues, some differences do remain which require further negotiation and consultation.” On Ireland, one senior government source admitted that progress would be difficult without the support of unionists. “It has to be a deal which is going to carry the support of the EU27 and everybody here. It is a reality that you need DUP support if the deal is to stand the test of time.”
Juncker described May as a “tough negotiator”, and insisted that talks had not failed. But he had to concede that a deadline set by Brussels, of clear and acceptable solutions from the UK on the three opening withdrawal issues had not materialised. In Dublin, where there had been full confidence that an agreement had been reached that could avoid a hard border after Brexit, the Irish prime minister, Leo Varadkar, told reporters that he was “disappointed and surprised” by Britain’s U-turn.
“It was not possible to reach complete agreement today,” he said. “We have common understanding on most issues. Just two or three are open for discussion.” Varadkar said: “It is evident that things broke down, became problematic during the lunch in Brussels.”
The Irish prime minister’s deputy had been on national radio just hours earlier confidently predicting that a deal was close and that “a positive statement for the country” from the Taoiseach was planned for the afternoon.
The DUP’s fury had prompted by a leak early on Monday of a draft 15-page joint statement from between the European commission and the UK which suggested Britain had bowed to the Republic of Ireland’s demands by accepting that “in the absence of agreed solutions the UK will ensure that there continues to be continued regulatory alignment” with the internal market and customs union.
Foster swiftly put out a statement insisting that she would not accept any special status for Northern Ireland as the UK left the EU in March 2019.
The news was then seized upon by Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, who suggested that any promise for Northern Ireland could be replicated for Scotland. That call was followed by similar suggestions from the London mayor, Sadiq Khan.
The European council president, Donald Tusk, tweeted:The European council president, Donald Tusk, tweeted:
Met with PM @theresa_may. I was ready to present draft EU27 guidelines tomorrow for #Brexit talks on transition and future. But UK and Commission asked for more time. It is now getting very tight but agreement at December #EUCO is still possible. pic.twitter.com/oLQQHs9F8qMet with PM @theresa_may. I was ready to present draft EU27 guidelines tomorrow for #Brexit talks on transition and future. But UK and Commission asked for more time. It is now getting very tight but agreement at December #EUCO is still possible. pic.twitter.com/oLQQHs9F8q
The UK wants Brussels to rule that sufficient progress has been made on the opening issues in order for talks on trade and a transition period to open in December, after a summit of leaders next week.The UK wants Brussels to rule that sufficient progress has been made on the opening issues in order for talks on trade and a transition period to open in December, after a summit of leaders next week.