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LONDON – The EU is preparing to offer Theresa May a lifesaver by issuing new instructions to her chief negotiator to enter into an agreement with Britain, a European diplomat calling the plan of operation " save Theresa ".
The prime minister remains under sustained attack from the Brexiteer wing of her own party. Last week, former Foreign Minister Boris Johnson compared his Brexit strategy to a "suicide vest around the British constitution". strengthen its position.
However, at a crucial summit in Salzburg this month, the remaining 27 EU leaders will discuss the possibility of adding additional guidance to Michel Barnier, the chief negotiator of Brexit's EU, reported the Financial Times.
A senior European diplomat told the newspaper that the new instructions would help "serve as a kind of mandate to make the deal".
"Dogmatic legalism"
British officials believe Barnier has interpreted his instructions too rigidly, which means that progress has been too difficult. Brexit Secretary General Dominic Raab has accused "dogmatic legalism" of the lack of breakthrough in the negotiations.
The diplomat pointed out that the directives would not significantly change Barnier's mandate to reach an agreement, and others denied that the current guidelines are too rigid, but that the new instructions could be "symbolically" important to allow Barnier
A crucial aspect of the negotiations will be the level of detail required for the "political declaration" on future relations between the United Kingdom and the EU, which is related to the divorce agreement. EU Member States, including Germany, have already insisted on the need for a clear and unambiguous statement.
But there now seems to be some recognition that a more misleading statement that does not force the UK to make tough decisions would help the deal to go through the British parliament. This, in turn, would prevent the United Kingdom from breaking down in March and May being replaced by a bolder Brexiteer.
The crucial problem remains the Irish border. The United Kingdom must accept a security feature guaranteeing the absence of new border checks between Northern Ireland and Ireland, which May strongly opposes as it would create a new frontier between Ireland and the rest of the United Kingdom.
A diplomat told FT: "There are things that will not work, we need legal protection. [for the Irish border]. The rest is soluble. "
