Brussels ready to accept fudge on an essential pact for Brexit

The EU is ready to "trade" crucial talks on Brexit – and to offer Britain a future plan for its future links with the bloc – if that helps Theresa May avoid the "no agreement" for a withdrawal treaty.

Development comes as British Prime Minister intensifies talks with EU leaders, including a meeting with Frenchman Emmanuel Macron this week

Since negotiations began last year, Brussels, Berlin and Paris stressed the need for a "Political Declaration" on future relations that would unambiguously clarify the type of trade relationship that the EU and the UK will have after Brexit. The official trade negotiations will only begin after the departure of Britain on March 29, 2009.

But the disarray of British politics, as Ms. May supports it with the opposition of eurosceptic and pro-MPs EU, convinced the top European leaders of tack could be necessary. At present, they fear that there is a "50% chance" that a draft withdrawal agreement will be rejected by the House of Commons.

"The priority is to get the agreement to withdraw.This will be goodbye goodbye," said a senior EU diplomat closely involved in discussions on Brexit. "The rest we can see after the Brexit."

The Declaration on Future Relations will not be a formal treaty, unlike the Withdrawal Agreement, which sets out legally binding terms on money, the rights of citizens and the Irish border.

A fudge would make this statement an ambitious statement intended to appease the warring factions of Westminster, rather than a plan for future trade negotiations.

British officials are confident that Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, is helping to soften the approach of the EU. a more positive meeting with Ms. May earlier this month. A British official said the Chancellor was ready to give Michel Barnier, chief negotiator of the EU, "more freedom" to reach an agreement.

The United Kingdom is now concentrating on Mr. Macron, whom Ms. May is expected to meet on her arrival. The island of Fort Brégançon retreats this week

Another senior EU official said: "The political declaration can not violate our principles, but with the rest, everything that helps to make passing a withdrawal bill is fine. "A third EU minister responsible for Brexit said:" We will do what is necessary to save the treaty of withdrawal ".

According to such an approach, diplomats believe that the political declaration could include references to the exploration of unprecedented future models of cooperation.

The top EU diplomat said that this could include references to hybrid models for customs that, according to Britain, would allow it to maintain a friction free trade with the EU and a independent commercial policy.

The main condition would be a watertight emergency shutdown device, set out in the withdrawal treaty, to prevent a hard boundary from dividing the island of & [[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[[IrelandinallcircumstancesSuchmeasureswouldinpracticehelpkeepmuchoftheeconomyofNorthernIrelandunderlegalcontroloftheEUwhichMsMaydescribedasintolerable

. "As long as you have the support, then you say in the new partnership statement that we will strive to establish a customs partnership that will make the backstop irrelevant," said the EU's chief diplomat. "You can fight for a lot of things."

The political declaration can not violate our principles. But with the rest, all that helps to pass a withdrawal bill is good

The diplomat added, "You can talk about a lot of things because the safety net is insurance if all these good prospects do not work. "

Diplomats acknowledge that there has been a change of tone on the part of Berlin, they say that London over-interprets a change of tactics on the part of Germany.

Berlin initially asked for a statement that was "clear [in its overall direction] but not detailed," according to a senior Eurozone government official involved in the process, while Britain asked for a "detailed but unclear agreement" ".

A compromise could be an ambitious but brief political declaration. "Much will depend on the line that May take," said the senior EU official. "Does she go for a more granular and detailed version or think the fudge will help me here too?" The more they insist on putting some questions in the text, probably the more we will have to put in conditions "

Negotiators in Brussels noted that Ms. May's white paper on future relations states that Britain will seek" free trade ". EU-negotiators will use this traditional model as a basic model for any declaration.

In doing so, the EU neglects indeed other parts of the EU. the British vision, which aims to recreate the benefits of participation in the single market for EU goods and the customs union.These measures, if recognized, will be considered as ideas to be discussed after The Brexit

Skepticism about Ms. May's vision remains high in many European capitals Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator, has strongly criticized the British hybrid proposals, saying that the EU "can not and will not" delegate the application of its customs system to a non-member who is outside of its governance regime.

During a discussion recent internal crisis between the EU27 Member States, no country It's pronounced in favor of British Customs ideas, according to two officials present. Several EU negotiators told the Financial Times that the proposals are "impracticable".

Brussels sees some issues as impossible to rig. This includes Britain's counterproposal against provisional customs arrangements at the United Kingdom scale to avoid Irish offshore controls.

Some EU negotiators worry that a vague statement on future relations will cause problems. "Creating a big fudge through a political statement will give the impression that there is some kind of link in the single market where, in reality, there is none," said a negotiator. , while adding. "Politicians will like to kick the box on the road."