Brexit Stops at the Top – Moment of Truth: NPR

While British Prime Minister Theresa May has met with European leaders in Brussels, an agreement on her country's imminent departure from the trading bloc seems far from being achieved.

"We need a lot of time, even more and we will continue to work in the coming weeks," EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said Wednesday, according to the Associated Press news agency. .

May remained optimistic on Wednesday, repeatedly saying that an agreement was possible. "I think we can reach an agreement … an agreement is in the interest not only of the United Kingdom, but also of the European Union," she said.

May met with European leaders on Wednesday – who then had dinner without her to continue their discussions.

The aim of the summit was to "unveil today a draft declaration on the future trade agreement between the European Union and the United Kingdom," said Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, of NPR, in Brussels. but this plan was abandoned as a result of several failures in the negotiations. The UK voted in favor of leaving the EU in a referendum in June 2016. And as the AP wrote, this meeting today It has already been considered a "moment of truth" for Brexit.

Before Wednesday's meeting, European Council President Donald Tusk said that a "no-deal" scenario is "more likely than ever" before the UK leaves the EU in March 2019. He said that "all efforts are being made" to deal with, "leaders will discuss how to intensify our preparations for a" no agreement "scenario."

For the moment, however, Tusk has stated that he has "no reason to be optimistic". He added: "For the breakthrough to take place, besides goodwill, we need new facts."

Many European leaders "see the delays as a tactic of negotiation by London to try to force concessions," said Nelson.

The summit was also set to pave the way for an additional planning meeting next month for the UK's exit – though, as the BBC writes, it's possible that EU leaders will formally announce that they will use the November meeting to prepare for this meeting. scenario without agreement.

In a nutshell, the biggest stumbling block in the Brexit negotiations at this stage is or put the border that officially separates the United Kingdom from the EU, and what kind it will be.

The question is complicated because Northern Ireland is, of course, located on the same island as Ireland, a member of the EU, and on an island different from that of the rest of the United Kingdom. .

Brussels is very reluctant to draw a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. As reported by the Financial Times, they proposed that Northern Ireland remains in the EU's regulatory regime for goods, thus allowing free movement to the north and south.

This proposal distinguishing Northern Ireland from the rest of the United Kingdom was met with resistance from the Democratic Unionist Party of Northern Ireland. And this is politically difficult for May, because her government relies on party support.

Alternatively, May suggested that the entire UK remains in the EU Customs Union for a temporary period in the hope that the "Irish problem" can be solved later. . This proposal has sparked the ire of more hard-line Brexiteers supporters of May's own party, who are worried about the lack of expiration date and fear that such an arrangement will weaken the position of UK negotiations in trade negotiations.

Other agreements, which seek a common ground between a total differentiation of Northern Ireland and the United Kingdom, remaining fully in the EU Customs Union, are also offered.

The question of Northern Ireland in these discussions is an enigma that Tusk compared to a "new version of the Gordian knot".

And negotiating some sort of alternative arrangement with Northern Ireland could create cracks in the UK's constitutional unity with Scotland, writes the Financial Times.

Scotland overwhelmingly voted to stay in the EU. In a recent speech, the paper reports that Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon has asked that Scotland be allowed to remain a member of the EU's single market if Northern Ireland gets a special deal.

"The closer the date of the UK withdrawal from the EU, the more it will be clear that Brexit will pose a serious long-term threat to the UK's territorial and constitutional unity," said the president. FT declared.

If and when an agreement is reached, the legislature of each Member State must also approve the conditions.