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'May can no longer be trusted': European press condemns PM Show us your backstop alternatives, EU governments tell May
(about 5 hours later)
European media and commentators were damning about the latest twist in the Brexit saga, accusing Theresa May variously of weakness, desperation and cynicism in putting party before country – and warning she could no longer be trusted. European governments have said Britain must swiftly spell out its proposed Irish backstop alternatives and insisted the Brexit divorce deal cannot be revisited, as the continent’s media and commentators condemned Theresa May as weak and untrustworthy.
“To avoid the disintegration of her own Conservative party, Theresa May is now risking a major showdown with the EU and increasing the danger of a damaging no-deal departure,” writes Le Monde’s London correspondent, Philippe Bernard. Germany’s foreign minister, Heiko Maas, said on Wednesday that London had “not yet said what changes to the backstop it envisages. It must now say quickly what it wants because time is running out.” The EU was ready to talk, he added, but “our position is clear: the agreement is the best and only solution for an orderly exit”.
“Two months before the divorce date, she hopes to question two years of discussions with the EU27 – ditching her own handiwork.” British MPs sent two contradictory messages, the paper says: “One majority rejected no deal; another mandated May to begin a renegotiation so hypothetical as to risk that very no deal.” The German economic affairs ministry cited fear of a chaotic Brexit as one reason for slashing its 2018 economic growth forecast from 1.8% to 1%, while the country’s BDI industry association said it was “very difficult” for German companies to see London was “further playing with valuable time” ahead of Brexit day on 29 March.
As for the prime minister, she made her strategy very clear, Le Monde concludes: “As risky as it is, she intends to run down the clock so as to force the EU27 into making concessions before 29 March. And then, if necessary, blame the EU – an easy scapegoat – for eventual failure.” The UK parliament on Tuesday instructed May to seek changes from the EU27 to the withdrawal agreement she concluded with the EU last November. The bloc has said repeatedly that the deal could not be reopened.
In Germany, Björn Finke in the Süddeutsche Zeitung says the most promising way forward for May would undoubtedly be to approach the opposition Labour party with concessions on a permanent customs union. “But that would lose her the support of hardcore Brexiteers in her own party, and risk splitting the Conservatives,” he says. France’s Europe minister, Nathalie Loiseau, said time was running out. “We are ready to talk about the future, but now is the time to agree on the conditions of separation,” she said. “The withdrawal agreement on the table is the best possible agreement. Let’s not reopen it.”
The office of the French president, Emmanuel Macron, noted in a statement that the agreement had been adopted jointly by the British government and the EU27. “This cannot be renegotiated,” it said. “The EU has been clear on this point.”
The statement added that if the UK wanted to discuss the future UK-EU relationship, the EU was “open to that, with respect for its interests and values”. Britain must in any case now “clarify its intentions and make credible proposals”.
The Portuguese foreign minister, Augusto Santos Silva, also said the EU was “ready to listen and give our position”, but only if Britain asked for an extension to the article 50 talks in order to present the bloc with “alternatives to its Brexit red lines, and clear alternatives to the backstop”.
Margot Wallström, Sweden’s foreign minister, said she “cannot forgive” the British government’s “dangerous … and badly handled” approach to Brexit, adding: “I just think they’ve made such a historical mistake. They’ve really created a problem for all of us.”
The European media was equally damning, accusing the prime minister of putting party before country. “To avoid the disintegration of her own Conservative party, Theresa May is now risking a major showdown with the EU,” wrote the French paper Le Monde’s London correspondent, Philippe Bernard.
“Two months before the divorce date, she hopes to question two years of discussions with the EU27 – ditching her own handiwork.” British MPs sent two contradictory messages, the paper said: “One majority rejected no deal; another mandated May to begin a renegotiation so hypothetical as to risk a no deal.”
As for the prime minister, she made her strategy very clear: “As risky as it is, she intends to run down the clock so as to force the EU27 into making concessions before 29 March. And then, if necessary, blame the EU – an easy scapegoat – for eventual failure.”
In Germany, Björn Finke in the Süddeutsche Zeitung said the best way forward for May would undoubtedly be to approach Labour with concessions on a permanent customs union. “But that would lose her the support of hardcore Brexiteers in her own party, and risk splitting the Conservatives,” he said.
“Since May lacks the courage and the leadership to take such a step, she prefers the seemingly simpler way: renegotiation. Brussels cannot trust her promise to win a majority if changes are made to the deal. May does not have her own party under control. May’s weakness is dangerous, for Britain and for the rest of the EU.”“Since May lacks the courage and the leadership to take such a step, she prefers the seemingly simpler way: renegotiation. Brussels cannot trust her promise to win a majority if changes are made to the deal. May does not have her own party under control. May’s weakness is dangerous, for Britain and for the rest of the EU.”
In an opinion piece for El País attacking May’s “startling disloyalty”, Xavier Vidal-Folch says bluntly the British prime minister “can no longer be trusted. Not because her judgment and arguments lack depth, but because she changes them at every step.” In an opinion piece for El País attacking May’s “startling disloyalty”, Xavier Vidal-Folch said bluntly the British prime minister “can no longer be trusted. Not because her judgment and arguments lack depth, but because she changes them at every step.”
It is true that this “worries the Europeans”, Vidal-Folch says. “That’s why they’re drawing up contingency plans, which only remind them of the losses ahead. But those who’ll suffer the most damage are the British themselves.
“The car industry, banks and technology sector are all putting the finishing touches to their own partial or total ex-Brit plans. It’s not abstract markets that will tip the balance, but real businesses, inventors, professionals and doctors. Because May can no longer be trusted.”
NRC Handelsblad in the Netherlands is equally brutal. “To save her Brexit deal, avoid a split in her party and retain the minimum of control a prime minister needs, May aims to provoke a conflict with the EU,” it says.
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“What has not proved possible in the past two years now has to be sorted in a fortnight, before the next parliamentary vote … The job looks impossible; there is a very high risk of May returning empty-handed. In which case, a no-deal Brexit will be a real probability: the moment of truth approaches for British politics.” It is true that this “worries the Europeans”, Vidal-Folch said. “That’s why they’re drawing up contingency plans, which only remind them of the losses ahead. But those who’ll suffer the most damage are the British themselves.
In Italy, La Repubblica says Tuesday’s votes in the Commons “revealed, more than anything else, the general refusal to take responsibility for the economic disaster that an exit from the EU without agreement would be. Nobody wants to be left holding the Brexit baby. Two and a half years after the referendum, we are back at the starting point. And it’s 60 days until Brexit.” “The car industry, banks and technology sector are all putting the finishing touches to their own partial or total ex-Brit plans. It’s not abstract markets that will tip the balance, but real businesses, inventors, professionals and doctors. Because May can no longer be trusted.”
Libération, France’s leftwing daily, detects a familiar British strategy behind Tuesday evening’s “utterly absurd” scenes in the Commons. “From now till mid-February, aided by the Eurosceptic press, she can deploy the classic British rhetoric: those intransigent, arrogant Europeans are refusing to give us what we want. NRC Handelsblad in the Netherlands was equally brutal. “To save her Brexit deal, avoid a split in her party and retain the minimum of control a prime minister needs, May aims to provoke a conflict with the EU,” it said.
“Then she can say, ‘I tried, but this is the only deal on the table.’ She is counting on fear of a no deal to win MPs round. It’s a very big gamble, and it could backfire, lamentably.” “What has not proved possible in the past two years now has to be sorted in a fortnight, before the next parliamentary vote … The job looks impossible. The moment of truth approaches for British politics.”
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