This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/oct/16/eu-scraps-plans-for-brexit-summit-statement-on-future-trade-deal

The article has changed 7 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
EU scraps plans for Brexit summit statement on future trade deal EU: May must deliver 'creative solution' to save Brexit summit
(about 5 hours later)
EU leaders have scrapped plans to make public a draft declaration on the bloc’s future trade deal with the UK and are set to rule out a November Brexit summit after Michel Barnier said the necessary “decisive progress” in the negotiations had failed to materialise. Theresa May has been told that it is up to her to deliver a “creative solution” to break the impasse that threatens to leave Wednesday’s “moment of truth” Brexit summit of EU leaders collapsing around her.
An outline of an agreement was due to be “on the table” at a summit dinner of leaders on Wednesday night, before which the prime minister is scheduled to address the 27 other EU heads of state. With the issue of the backstop to the Irish border derailing the negotiations, and the timeline slipping by the week, Donald Tusk, the president of the European council, said he would demand fresh concrete proposals on the Irish border from the prime minister.
An extraordinary meeting of leaders to finalise the outline of the future relationship, a step long-sought by Downing Street, had also been pencilled in for the weekend of 17 and 18 November. Plans to outline a future trade deal during a leaders’ dinner on Wednesday night, a long-sought demand of Downing Street, have been scrapped. Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, said the UK government had also failed to meet the conditions necessary for a special November Brexit summit to be called.
Developments on Sunday, when the Brexit secretary, Dominic Raab, refused to sign off on an agreement on the Irish border, have brought the carefully choreographed plans to a halt. Tusk delivered his ultimatum despite the fact that May appears to remain in an impossible political position at home and unable to deliver progress on the crucial issue of the Northern Ireland-only backstop.
Arriving in Luxembourg, where he will brief EU ministers on the state of the negotiations, Barnier said his benchmark for success had not been reached. “We are not there yet. There are several subjects that remain open, including Ireland,” he said. “As I understand we need more time to find this comprehensive agreement and achieve decisive progress.” The issue “looks like a new version of the Gordian knot”, Tusk told reporters in Brussels. “Unfortunately I cannot see a new version of Alexander the Great. As you know, it is not so easy to find this kind of creative leader.”
Barnier said the EU was going to work “calmly and seriously” to finalise an agreement. His intervention came on a day when May held a crucial cabinet meeting where she persuaded her colleagues to back her negotiating stance for the time being. On Wednesday night she will address the EU 27 in an ante-room before they sit down to a dinner from which she is excluded.
A senior EU official said that leaders would react accordingly to Barnier’s decision. “Since there is no agreement on the Irish backstop there will not be an outline of joint political declaration on the table on Wednesday evening [that] will not change before Wednesday,” the senior EU official said. Tusk spoke of his dismay at a debate in parliament on Monday during which MPs had expressed a lack of support for May’s Brexit plans, raising fresh fears that any deal brought back to parliament will be rejected.
“I think that was clear on Sunday afternoon, that what we got from Michel Barnier [the EU’s chief negotiator] was that the spirit of talks on Sunday were not promising any progress before the summit this Wednesday.” The prime minister in turn had dug in on her refusal to countenance the need for an “all-weather” solution being backed by Brussels, in which Northern Ireland stays in the customs union and single market should other options such as a temporary EU-UK customs union not come to pass.
Germany’s EU minister, Michael Roth, said Berlin was aware the prime minister was constrained by her domestic vulnerability. Asked what his message to May would be, he told reporters: “Take responsibility and be constructive.” “The report on the state of the negotiations that I got from Michel Barnier today, as well as yesterday’s debate in the House of Commons, give me no grounds for optimism before tomorrow’s European council on Brexit”, Tusk said. “And as I see it, the only source of hope for a deal for now is the goodwill and determination on both sides.
“We can have either a smooth Brexit or rocky one,” said France’s EU affairs minister, Nathalie Loiseau. “We all prefer a smooth one but we have to stand ready if there is no deal.” “However, for a breakthrough to take place, besides goodwill, we need new facts. Tomorrow, I am going to ask prime minister May whether she has concrete proposals on how to break the impasse. Only such proposals can determine if a breakthrough is possible I hope tomorrow prime minister May will present something creative enough to solve this impasse.”
During a summit in Salzburg last month, Donald Tusk, the president of the European council, had demanded “maximum progress” in the talks to allow the negotiations to develop. Tusk scorned the suggestion that Boris Johnson could be the figure to rescue the situation should there be a leadership challenge. The ex-foreign secretary’s suggestions that the EU was seeking to annex Northern Ireland or divide the UK were “of course, not the truth”, he said.
The backstop for avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland remains a key sticking point, with the EU proposing that Northern Ireland in effect stay in the customs union and single market. Brussels had carefully planned a path to a deal after seven days of intense and secret talks between negotiators but developments on Sunday, when the Brexit secretary, Dominic Raab, refused to sign off on an agreement on the Irish border, have brought those to a halt, with a close to the cliff-edge December finale to the talks now looking ever more likely.
Tusk, on the bidding of the French president, Emmanuel Macron, had said such progress being made in the talks was a condition for an extraordinary meeting on Brexit to be held in November. “Since there is no agreement on the Irish backstop there will not be an outline of joint political declaration on the table on Wednesday evening [that] will not change before Wednesday,” a senior EU official said.
It now appears that a crunch summit in December could be in play. But senior UK officials have suggested that such a timetable could make it all but impossible to get the necessary Brexit legislation through parliament in time for 29 March 2019. For a November summit to go ahead, the EU had demanded “maximum progress” on the withdrawal agreement.
“It is always the case that decisions are made at five to 12 [midnight],” a senior EU official involved in the negotiations said. In Luxembourg, where he briefed EU ministers on the state of the negotiations, Barnier said his benchmark for success had not been reached. “We are not there yet. There are several subjects that remain open, including Ireland,” he said.
Discussions in Brussels had been held in recent days over holding a “no-deal” summit in November, and this option will be discussed by leaders. Germany’s EU minister, Michael Roth, said Berlin was aware the prime minister was constrained by her domestic vulnerability. Asked what his message to May would be, he said: “Take responsibility and be constructive.”
A French government official suggested that an alternative plan would be to bring a November summit forward should there be movement by the UK on the Irish issue in the coming weeks, with December then taking on the ceremonial role of signing off on a political declaration. A December summit is now being seen as the likely last chance for a deal, although senior UK officials have suggested that such a timetable could make it all but impossible to get the necessary Brexit legislation through parliament in time for 29 March 2019.
With such uncertainty in the process, the European commission is expected this week to publish a new raft of “no deal” notices to alert businesses and member states on how to deal with the UK crashing out of the bloc. They had been held back for fear of upsetting the talks, at a point when progress had been detected. In his update to the EU’s 27 EU affairs ministers, Barnier ran through the calendar, counting backwards from Brexit day on 29 March 2019. “December is the last possible moment it is legally and politically realistic to get a deal,” said a source familiar with his update.
Jean-Claude Juncker, the European commission president, is to update leaders on the bloc’s state of readiness at the summit dinner, with an EU source saying “the time is ripe” for such a move. Barnier told ministers at the closed-door meeting he wanted to reassess the progress of Brexit talks in about two weeks. The option of a “no-deal” summit in November is still open and will be discussed by leaders on Wednesday. He also suggested to the EU ministers that he had offered an extension of the transition beyond 2020, as first revealed by the Guardian. 
“These are real issues,” the official said. “Maybe they are not as dramatic as in the UK but they are still real and they will still affect life on the continent.” Tusk’s doom-laden comments were not wholly echoed by diplomats among the member states. Sebastian Kurz, the Austrian chancellor, suggested the pause in the talks was a tactic by May to find political space for a final concession.
The EU official, speaking on the eve of what had been billed as a “moment of truth” summit for the Brexit talks, said: “Clearly we are not in the place we wanted to be in October, so from that perspective that truth is we have clarity actually. More clarity now than in September in Salzburg. What we have found out in the process leading to this meeting on Wednesday is that it is not going to be so easy to find a deal between the EU and the UK.” A French government official suggested that a November summit could happen, should there be movement by the UK on the Irish issue in the coming weeks.
Asked whether Tusk and the EU leaders would be careful to avoid repeating the outcome of the Salzburg summit, which was widely said to have been a humiliation for May, the EU official responded: “Sometimes you have the impression that telling the truth is showing a lack of respect but we believe that it is on the contrary.” Poland’s EU affairs minister, Konrad Szymański, said he believed a deal was still possible in November but he noted the DUP’s threat to vote down the budget as a hurdle to progress. Urging diplomatic language from all involved, he said: “In a sensitive process such as this, every word might negatively influence the chances to reach an agreement.
He added: “The economic part of Chequers is not going to work, there is no way to frictionless trade outside the single market and customs union.” “We need to listen carefully to what Theresa May says. She is our negotiating partner, who, in good faith, is searching for an agreement as well. This is the perspective which we should apply during Wednesday’s dinner.”
May is to address the EU27 leaders in a room on the third floor of the Europa building in Brussels, before the heads of state have a dinner without her to discuss their next steps. Some EU diplomats suggested that drama was being injected into the process in order to strengthen May in her battle with her cabinet, rather than to weaken her.
“There will not be any food on the table,” the EU official joked of the first meeting, adding that he did not expect May’s intervention to play a major role in the discussions. He said attempts to divide the 27 other member states have only strengthened the unity of the EU and their backing for both Barnier and the Republic of Ireland in the talks. With such uncertainty in the process, the European commission, however, is expected to publish a new raft of “no deal” notices to alert businesses and member states on how to deal with the UK crashing out of the bloc. They had been held back for fear of upsetting the talks, at a point when progress had been detected.
On Monday, May had said she would not accept the EU’s proposal on the backstop, in which Northern Ireland could potentially stay in the customs union and single market as the rest of the UK withdrew. Asked whether Tusk and the EU leaders would be careful to avoid repeating the outcome of the Salzburg summit, which was widely said to have been a humiliation for May, the EU official responded: “Sometimes you have the impression that telling the truth is showing a lack of respect, but we believe that it is on the contrary.”
The EU official said: “What I also expect as one of the messages that will be expressed by the summit on Wednesday is full and strong support of the line as expressed in the [European Union’s] guidelines so that also covers the issue of Ireland.
“You remember that line that there is no withdrawal agreement without a backstop that will work, which is legally binding, so I think that is not going to change. But we still hope that there is a way to find an agreement.”
BrexitBrexit
European UnionEuropean Union
Foreign policyForeign policy
EuropeEurope
Theresa MayTheresa May
ConservativesConservatives
newsnews
Share on FacebookShare on Facebook
Share on TwitterShare on Twitter
Share via EmailShare via Email
Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn
Share on PinterestShare on Pinterest
Share on Google+Share on Google+
Share on WhatsAppShare on WhatsApp
Share on MessengerShare on Messenger
Reuse this contentReuse this content