[ad_1]
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – European leaders have urged the British to back Prime Minister Theresa May's package at Brexit, as they meet on Sunday to formally sign an agreement with her that faces furious opposition to Parliament British.
A member of staff adjusts the flags before the extraordinary summit of European leaders to finalize and formalize the agreement on Brexit in Brussels, Belgium, November 25, 2018. REUTERS / Dylan Martinez
"The time has come for everyone to assume their responsibilities, everyone," said Michel Barnier, the Frenchman who developed the withdrawal treaty in the last 18 months as national leaders are gathered for a brief morning summit in Brussels.
Its president, Jean-Claude Juncker, president of the European Commission, told the press that the Brexit was a "tragedy" and a harshness towards both parties, while expressing confidence that the British Parliament would accept the proposed package. To the question of whether the EU could improve the conditions otherwise, he said his fundamental positions would not be changed.
Barnier described the terms of the 600-page treaty for Britain's withdrawal from the European Union on March 29 as a good basis for negotiating a future relationship, a 26-page plan on which leaders will also agree with May. But he insisted to the journalists: "We will remain allies, partners and friends."
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, whose country is one of Britain's closest trading partners, praised May's handling of difficult negotiations and said he was confident that she could see the deal go through Parliament in the coming weeks.
But he also warned members of May's conservative party, as well as those of the Labor opposition, who argue that a better deal can still be reached before Britain leaves the country in four months if lawmakers deny him the support of his minority government at Brexit.
"It's the maximum we can all do," said Rutte, shaking his head when asked if the EU could make more concessions.
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.
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 said there would be at least four possible outcomes if Parliament blocked the package. She named three of them: the British would hold a second referendum, organize new elections to replace May or return to Brussels to try 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 national leaders of the EU will meet for about an hour to formally endorse the package, which provides for little changes over a transition period of two to four 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.
Other reports by Gabriela Baczynska, Jan Strupczewski, Foo Yun Chee, Robin Emmott and Belen Carreno in Brussels; written by Alastair Macdonald; Edited by Marguerita Choy and Alexander Smith
