Nineteen months of feuds on the Brexit – and this is only a taster

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There was a real "battle of tones" at the Brexit summit with Theresa May.

EU leaders were decidedly gloomy, while the British Prime Minister was to be optimistic and optimistic about the future of his country without Brussels.

This should not be underestimated. Sunday was a great day for the EU, which for the first time in its history signed the divorce laws of a key member country endangered.

In the eyes of many, Brexit is considered a failure of the EU. French President Emmanuel Macron reminded the press of the fragility of the European Union. This is why, on many occasions, European leaders in Brussels continue to make such a demonstration of the (unusual) unity that the Brexit process has brought about in the ranks of the EU.

For the moment, of course, all of Europe's eyes are turning to the UK to see whether the hard-won agreement on Brexit has been passed in the House of Commons.

In the opposite case, the President of the European Commission, Jean Claude Juncker, insists that there will be no agreement.

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"It's the deal, it's the deal," he told me emphatically, ruling out the possibility of renegotiating the Brexit texts.

If he is true to his word and if the parliament rejects the divorce agreement, the 19 months of painful negotiations between the EU and the UK have been in vain. And both parties could face the cost and potential chaos of what Michel Barnier calls an unordered Brexit.

European leaders are determined to avoid this.

As long as European leaders have regretted the Brexit, and as often as they have expressed themselves at each European summit since the Brexit vote on the fact that the door remains open for the UK to change its position. notice, none of this has been said. on Sunday. Instead, they were in full contact with Theresa May – to help her sell her home market.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte noted that the Prime Minister had "fought hard" and that the result was a good deal. Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator for Brexit, said it was "extraordinary", "complex" and "difficult" negotiations, resulting in an "unprecedented and ambitious partnership ".

All of these fair and fabulous contract discussions seem rather hollow, however, when the EU has made it clear from the outset that it would never give up a market in the UK that would make life more beautiful, if not better. , outside rather than inside. club.

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But of course, this is not the final agreement. The history of tumultuous relations between the EU and the UK is far from over.

Perhaps there will be a second vote on the Brexit agreement in the UK Parliament, a second referendum or a general election. As long as we do not know, we can not be 100% sure of the EU's reaction.

But if, as seems likely, Brexit materializes, it is only then that detailed negotiations for a future trade agreement between the EU and the UK begin. seriously.

And Mr Macron reminded us all, at the Brexit summit on Sunday, of the national interests of the horse dealers, the disputes and the conflicts of interest of the EU countries that will dispute these negotiations.

The French president has essentially threatened the success of a future trade agreement between the United Kingdom and the United Kingdom if the United Kingdom does not guarantee the access of French fishermen to British waters after Brexit.

Now, this should not shock anyone. Fish, Gibraltar, the EU trying to tie the UK to its competition rules, even the Irish barrier at the Irish border are issues that have been treated just enough to complement the Brexit agreement texts, but in reality the future trade negotiations.

To summarize: these 19 months of endless arguments over the Brexit divorce agreement … it was a foretaste of what was yet to come.