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LONDON (BLOOMBERG) – British Prime Minister Theresa May's cabinet is not close enough to agree on a way forward for the resumption of high-level negotiations on Brexit, even as time is running out to reach an agreement, according to informed people.
The British side will almost certainly not propose a new plan until next Monday 's budget, with the annual statement setting out the government' s plans for taxes and spending for next year, said the government. one of the leaders.
The badessment followed a heated May cabinet meeting on Tuesday when two factions disputed over how to avoid customs controls at the Irish border without forever linking the UK to the US trade regime. European Union.
A meeting convened Thursday to discuss this issue was canceled because the agreement within May's team is still out of reach, according to an article in the Evening Standard newspaper.
Britain and the EU had hoped to finalize the terms of the divorce at a summit of national leaders last week in order to sign the global agreement – including an overview of future relations – when 39, a special meeting in mid-November.
Divisions within the British negotiating team meant that May's ministers, including Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab, vetoed a draft agreement.
At the Brussels summit, May proposed new compromises, pledging to consider extending the transition period and abandoning its call for a strict deadline for the so-called security arrangement at the Irish border.
May's actions triggered cabinet discussions on Tuesday as she lost control of the warring factions within her team. According to people familiar with the meeting, seven high-ranking ministers in favor of Brexit voted against a proposal that would allow the UK to remain indefinitely within the EU's customs union.
May would have reacted angrily before another group of ministers launched a counterattack and warned that the UK will separate from the EU without an agreement if it fails to compromise.
On the other side of the bargain, many Member States find it difficult to see how May can get any reasonable negotiated agreement pbaded by Parliament, prompting them to focus on preparations for a non-agreement, according to one official. European.
"What is undeniable is that the prospects for an agreement are very negatively affected by the political situation we are currently seeing in the UK," said Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar this week in Dublin.
According to May's office, negotiations are "in progress" at a technical level between British and European officials in Brussels. But Raab, secretary of Brexit, or his European counterpart, Michel Barnier, have no high-level political involvement.
Brexit supporters in the May Cabinet call for a legally binding mechanism to get Britain out of any support arrangement at the Irish border that will come into effect. They fear that the UK will remain indefinitely in a customs union with the bloc, preventing the country from concluding new trade agreements around the world – a key Brexit price for those who have campaigned to defend it.
One option being considered in London is to include a review clause in any backup plan, said one person, expressing it anonymously because the case is not public. This would mean that initially, the security system would keep the United Kingdom within the customs union for a period of six months or a year.
This could be extended once, if Britain or the EU decided it would help. But to extend it further, both sides should be heard, giving the UK government – and the European Union – the opportunity to take advantage of unilateral support, as part of the draft plan.
It is not clear if the EU would be willing to consider the proposal.
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