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(Bloomberg) – Prime Minister Theresa May informed her cabinet of Brexit, calling for unity to get a good deal. Meanwhile, the European ministers met in Luxembourg. The question now is whether leaders meeting Wednesday for dinner will find a way out of the stalemate.
Hold the line (4:15 pm)
May's spokesperson did not add much to our current knowledge on the state of negotiations. He added that the Prime Minister had stated his position Monday in Parliament and that he was eager to meet Tusk in Brussels on Wednesday. The United Kingdom wants to move forward as quickly as possible, said James Slack.
More from Tusk (3:10 pm)
"The problem is clear," Tusk told reporters. "It's still the Irish question, the problem of the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland and the so-called" safety net. "He described it as a" new version of the Gordian knot, "adding that he could not see a new version of Alexander the Great around to solve it.
"I hope that tomorrow Prime Minister May will present something creative enough to resolve this impasse," he said.
Summit unlikely to produce much: Coveney (14:50)
The EU's chief negotiator for Brexit, Michel Barnier, has just started briefing the 27 governments at a meeting in Luxembourg on the state of negotiations and the summit's prospects on Wednesday.
It is "unlikely that there is much agreement for tomorrow night," said Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney. He also downplayed the likelihood that a follow-up summit in November will be announced by the leaders.
"Negotiating teams will need a signal indicating that a new summit is needed before being called," he said.
And Coveney reiterated the EU's opposition to making temporary the essential support of the Irish border: "If you set a future date for the fall of a backstop, it's not at all a backstop."
Varadkar: Still a little late on the safety net (2:45 pm)
In Dublin, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar told Parliament that there remained a "gap" between the two sides of Irish support, with much work to be done before an agreement was reached. He stressed that there would be no withdrawal agreement without a "legally operational and legally binding backstop".
Although this has always been his position, he has sought to reassure lawmakers that the case was still in the news, after the leader of the Irish Labor Party, Brendan Howlin, unexpectedly declared to the reporters that he had understood from source that the safety net could be pushed much further.
Tusk: Only new UK proposals can come out of deadlock (2:35 pm)
A more pessimistic line from EU President Donald Tusk. Only the new proposals from May's government can come out of stalemate, he told the press, and recent developments "give me no reason to be optimistic" at the approach Summit.
"To make a breakthrough, it is necessary, besides good will, new facts. Tomorrow, I will ask Premier May if she has concrete proposals to break the deadlock. Only such proposals can determine if progress is possible. "
In the event that an agreement on Brexit is not reached – "or in case it is rejected", the leaders of Wednesday's meeting "will discuss how to intensify our preparations for a" non-agreement "scenario. ", said Tusk.
Barnier: it takes more time for the transaction (13h30)
"We worked a lot last week and in recent days with the British authorities to find a comprehensive agreement for an orderly withdrawal," Michel Barnier, Brexit's chief negotiator, told reporters in Luxembourg.
Barnier said the main stumbling block in the talks remains how to make sure that there is no hard border in Ireland after Brexit. "We are not there yet," he said. "We will take this time, calmly and seriously, to find this global agreement in the coming weeks."
Threat of Cabinet resignation (1:25 pm)
It is true that no one threatened to resign, according to a person informed of the Cabinet meeting, but there was a lot of disagreement in the room – especially about the temporal element of support. To say that there was a unit behind May would be wrong, said the person familiar with the discussions that took place privately.
May urges Cabinet to remain united (13:22)
May's spokesman, James Slack, briefed reporters on the cabinet meeting. Ministers discussed Brexit for two and a half hours, he said, and "strongly agree" with the prime minister on the importance of maintaining the integrity of the UK.
"I am convinced that if the government remains united and remains firm, we can achieve" a good Brexit deal, May said at the meeting, according to Slack. She reiterated that no prime minister could agree to see Northern Ireland under a separate customs regime.
"Cabinet has also agreed that we must be careful not to stay indefinitely in the protection mechanism," said Slack. No deal is better than a bad Brexit deal that divides the UK, he said.
According to Slack, no minister said he was considering resigning. "They discussed their concerns about the proposals in the state," he said.
The EU is trying to do the least harm possible (12:50)
"Our commitment is to try to find a solution," Vice-President Frans Timmermans told reporters in Luxembourg. "We are in the midst of a very, very delicate process, and the only thing I can assure you, is that everyone in the Commission – Michel Barnier, Jean-Claude Juncker, everyone – do their best to do as little as possible and try to find a solution to the problems that have not yet been solved. "
Cabinet meeting continues … (12:35)
The Cabinet meeting, which lasted two hours and ended at 11:30, continued after two-and-a-half hours, according to someone familiar with the timing.
A summit earlier in November would help the UK (12h)
As the French official said earlier, the date of November 17 for a possible summit Brexit is not fixed in stone. Officials on both sides suggested holding it earlier to help May get the parliamentary support she needs. Brussels officials are seeing more and more in the British budget, scheduled for October 29, a milestone and believe that a summit could take place at any time thereafter.
But a word of caution: there is no certainty about holding a summit in November. It all depends on whether EU leaders will decide at their meeting on Wednesday that the negotiations have progressed enough to justify one.
Clark: "A substantial increase" in Deal (11:50)
Meanwhile, in the House of Commons, Business Secretary Greg Clark answers questions from legislators concerned about the impact of Brexit's uncertainty on British businesses. Clark echoes what Chancellor Chancellor Philip Hammond said last week, that if the UK got the type of agreement it was looking for, "there would be a substantial benefit to the economy".
May brief cabinet after cooling of pizza sale (11:40)
May meets his cabinet this morning to discuss the progress of the work. His spokesperson should subsequently update the media.
The meeting comes after eight high-level ministers – including Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab and Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt – met over a take-away pizza on Monday night in the House of Commons Chief's Office. Andrea Leadsom, to discuss their concerns regarding the May trading strategy.
According to a person familiar with the discussions, they remain deeply worried about security at the Irish border – but they are not about to leave the government while negotiations are under way. Their point of view seems to be that there is hardly any alternative to May's plan, with the exception of a Brexit without agreement.
Another meeting of the EU before November? (11:25)
Another French official (10:45) told reporters in Paris that Brexit negotiations should continue immediately after Wednesday's summit, where it is clear that an agreement will probably not be reached. The EU27 intends to send an "emergency" message to the UK, the official said.
The official notably raised the possibility of another meeting of the EU before November to avoid the last minute negotiations on the Brexit crisis.
German official: no discussion will fail (11h00)
A German official expressed his optimism by telling reporters that there was no sign of a collapse of the negotiations with the United Kingdom and that negotiations remained on track to meet the November timetable, even if the EU were to prepare for all scenarios.
Talks have progressed and officials are working to resolve the latest problem, said the official who requested anonymity in accordance with the rules on information. The so-called Irish support must be legally sealed in the divorce agreement, said the official.
French official: discussions on the Irish border in progress (10:45)
Negotiations on the Irish border and the so-called "backstop" are under way and may not be resolved before Wednesday's summit, although France is confident that progress will be made, a French official told reporters. in Paris.
No food for May (10h10)
May will address the leaders before their dinner on Wednesday, and then the so-called EU-27 will expose herself to discuss what she said, according to an EU official who briefed the journalists. They will decide what to do next: convene a summit in November to show that they believe that progress has been made or strengthen planning for the absence of a transaction. Or maybe both.
The EU is not where it wanted to be now, the official said. And things are more complicated than expected. The EU also insists that it is not in such a hurry: it is on the side of the United Kingdom because of the parliamentary process that must follow.
Rinkevics: 50 to 50 chances of failure of discussions (9:45)
Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkevics told reporters in Luxembourg that he was still seeing a 50% chance of failure of Brexit negotiations, calling for "more diplomacy, more pressure for talks ".
"I understand the British government and its difficulties, but I also think that the European Union is united at 27," he said, referring to the last members of the bloc. "We have to find a good compromise."
To come up:
May must address her 27 counterparts Wednesday at the beginning of dinner. They will then continue to talk about Brexit without it. It could be late.
Earlier:
Brexit Newsletter: Need for Creative Thinking: May and Macron hit the tone of dovish before the Brexit SummitBrexit high-end used to refer to Brexit. What does it mean now ?: John Authers: An uncompromising Brexit does not scare people: Therese RaphaelBrexit sits on ice while the stalemate casts doubt on the date stop
– With the help of Emma Ross-Thomas, Patrick Donahue, Robert Hutton, Hélène Fouquet, Alex Morales, Tim Ross and Kitty Donaldson.
To contact the reporters on this story: Ian Wishart in Brussels at [email protected], Peter Flanagan in Dublin at [email protected], Jones Hayden in Brussels at [email protected]
To contact the makers of this story: Flavia Krause-Jackson at [email protected], Emma Ross-Thomas at [email protected], Stuart Biggs
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