EU leaders to hand over May package to Brexit

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European leaders met on Sunday to present an official offer to Prime Minister Theresa May on Brexit. They hope to survive the fury of the British Parliament and dispel Britain in March.

After 18 months of negotiations, including a few last-minute attempts by Spain to seek guarantees for a role in Gibraltar's future, the 27 national leaders will approve the terms of withdrawal and outline future links between the EU and the UK that conclude with a visit in May.

The biggest question the European Union is currently facing is whether the divided minority government of May will be able to lead the agreement, which provides for London to abide by numerous European rules to facilitate access to trade, thanks to a strong resistance to parliament from supporters and opponents of Brexit.

Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, among the first to arrive, refused to take inspiration from what could happen if the agreement failed, saying it was up to the UK legislature to decide.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, whose country is one of Britain's closest trading partners, praised May for handling the difficult negotiations and said he was confident she could see agreement go through the London Parliament.

Rutte said the EU "hated" Brexit: "No one wins – we all lose." But the deal is an acceptable compromise for anything that gives May a chance to find a solution.

Grybauskaite said that there were at least four possible outcomes if the British Parliament blocked the package, and named three – that the British would hold a second referendum, hold a new election to replace May or return to Brussels to attempt to renegotiate the package. Fourth, Britain will simply leave the bloc on March 29 without any legal clarity.

Both parties are preparing for such a "no agreement" scenario, although the EU insists that Britain has more to lose. The pound sterling has strengthened since the conclusion of the deal over the past 10 days, but companies and investors remain nervous.

Summit President Donald Tusk said: "No one will be right to be happy" after Brexit's conclusion, said British rock star Freddie Mercury of Queen, who died Saturday, 27 years ago: "Friends will be friends until the end."

The 27 EU national leaders will meet for about an hour to formally endorse a detailed treaty setting the terms for the departure of Britain in an orderly way in March, as well as a statement outlining how Great Britain Brittany can stay close to its biggest market by following EU rules after a transition of 2 to 4 years.

They will then meet briefly May, who wishes to take the momentum to get the package adopted in the British Parliament in the coming weeks.

UK OPPOSITION

The Democratic Unionist Party, whose votes in Northern Ireland have helped May to govern since she lost her majority in early elections badly judged last year, said that 39 he would try to block a deal on the Brexit called "pitiful" – in part because it links London to many EU rules will no longer help to define and partly because the DUP fears of weaken the province's ties with Britain.

Nobody knows what will happen if Parliament rejects May's plan, which she and EU leaders say is the best deal available.

In an open letter to the nation, published Sunday, May announced that she would be campaigning "body and soul" to get her agreement on Brexit accepted: "It will be an agreement that is in our national interest – one that works for all our country and all our people, whether you have voted Leave or stay, she said.

Sunday papers said different factions of his own conservative party were preparing alternative plans to keep Britain closer to the EU if its agreement failed as many expect.

The question of how to keep open the border between Northern Ireland and Northern Ireland, without creating destructive customs barriers with the Irish Republic, has delayed much of the 18 months of negotiations preceding the conclusion of the agreements this month -this. Another remnant of the imperial past, the 300-year-old British naval base on the south coast of Spain, threatened to derail plans at the last minute.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has threatened to boycott Sunday's meeting if he did not want amendments to the agreement so that Madrid has a say in future relations between Gibraltar and Spain. EU.

After officials quarreled in the night, he announced Saturday afternoon that he had such written promises. Brussels officials claimed that they essentially confirmed what most EU leaders had already understood, namely that Spain had to have a say on the possible impact of A future trade pact between the European Union and the United Kingdom on Gibraltar.

May will meet Sanchez for face-to-face talks at the summit, officials said.