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LONDON – After a significant failure in talks over Britain's withdrawal from the European Union, Prime Minister Theresa May said Monday that an agreement was still "workable", as far as she was trying to prevent a crucial meeting with his European counterparts this week from degenerating into a diplomatic stalemate in a crisis.
May is due to meet with the other leaders in Brussels on Wednesday, but a summit has already been seen as an opportunity to agree on most of the outlines of a withdrawal agreement that is becoming a reality. political rescue operation.
Subjected to political difficulties in her country – where uncompromising Brexit supporters in her cabinet are considering resigning – Ms May acknowledged that there were still some "critical issues" still to be resolved with the EU. European. The pre-summit talks took a bad turn in Brussels on Sunday.
"I do not think the UK and the US are very far apart," May told legislators on Monday. Both parties, she said, "can not let this disagreement derail the prospects for a good deal and leave us with the unwinding without agreement that nobody wants."
Donald Tusk, President of the European Council, expressed his concerns in a formal invitation letter to the summit meeting, in which it was stated that leaders should "remain optimistic and determined", but "must prepare the # 39; EU. for a scenario without agreement, which is more likely than ever before. "
The stalemate came on Sunday when Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab traveled to Brussels and rejected the proposals drafted by the EU and Britain officials, signaling significant progress. at this week's meeting in Brussels.
The main outstanding issue is a "security plan" to ensure that, whatever the case may be in future trade negotiations, it will not be necessary to impose controls at the workplace. physical border between Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, and Ireland, which will remain in the European Union.
It was expected that the summit meeting would at least make decisive progress towards a withdrawal agreement – often referred to as a divorce settlement – and provide guidance for future relations between Great Britain and the Union.
While Britain must leave the bloc at the end of March and any withdrawal agreement to be ratified by the British and European parliaments, the concern over the timing and growing concerns about a Brexit " without agreement "arouses anxiety.
Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said Monday that any deal "would take a little longer than many hoped." German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that although she was "very hopeful", an agreement on the exit could be largely achieved this week, "for now, it seems a little harder."
Little progress this week could also challenge plans for a possible emergency summit in mid-November – another opportunity to seal an agreement on Brexit. French President Emmanuel Macron has announced that he will not attend any meetings unless significant progress is made this week.
Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said an agreement with Britain was now more likely to be concluded in November or December.
European governments are generally fed up with Britain and Mrs May's apparent inability to control her own cabinet or to command a majority in parliament for her projects. But they are trying not to force her into a position that would make her feel the need to start a new election or waste her party time.
And Europeans have other pressing issues in mind.
The summit will begin with a dinner on Wednesday to discuss the issue of Brexit, with Ms. May being invited at least for part of the meal. This debate will be followed Thursday by a discussion between the rest of the leaders on issues that are of greater urgency for them, including migration, internal security and the challenge of the union presented by the Italian, Polish and Portuguese governments. Hungarian.
Some European officials believe that an agreement with Britain could be reached only in December, if at all, since negotiations only become serious when the deadlines are real.
While European leaders want a good Brexit and are willing to postpone some of the most controversial issues in Britain, they will also be more loyal to a member in good standing, Ireland, than a country. . No matter how important, who chose to leave.
One of Dublin's main concerns is to avoid border controls, which both parties have pledged to avoid, in order to protect the hard-won peace on the island.
Ms. May believes that an agreement on future trade with the European Union may be comprehensive enough to remove the need for border controls in Ireland, but the European Union has demanded a "support" plan in case this could not be implemented on time.
During this interim period, Ms May proposed to keep the whole of the United Kingdom under the customs regulations of the European Union and to accept additional regulatory controls on the transit of goods between the United Kingdom and the United Kingdom. Brittany and Northern Ireland.
But negotiators are stuck on legal issues and when and how this arrangement will end. This led to the idea of a "backup in the background". The latter would include Northern Ireland in a customs union and would enter into force if a future trade agreement rendering border controls unnecessary could not be finalized.
On Monday, Ms. May repeated that she could not accept anything that would see Northern Ireland "cut into the EU customs union and part of the single market, separated from the border. British by a border in the Irish Sea internal market. "
Stephen Castle brought back from London, and Steven Erlanger from Brussels.
