BREXIT

EU gives May 10 days to improve her offer before trade talks begin

BRUSSELS: Theresa May has been given 10 days to improve her offer to the EU if she wants its leaders to allow Brexit talks to move on to transition and trade, reports Independent.co.uk.

After a meeting in Brussels, European Council President Donald Tusk said Ms May would have to finalise her deal by 4 December when she is expected to meet other key EU officials.

If Ms May’s offer on critical withdrawal issues including the “divorce bill”, EU citizens’ rights and the Irish border meets with approval, it will allow EU leaders to rule that “significant progress” has been made for negotiations to move forward at the European Council on 14 December.  

The Prime Minister hopes the crunch summit in Brussels will give a boost to the whole Brexit process and to the credibility of her leadership, which hinges on making a success of EU withdrawal.

Friday saw the issue of the Irish border come under intense focus, amid increasing pressure for better guarantees on the issue from Dublin.

After seeing Ms May on Friday, Mr Tusk said it was “possible” sufficient progress could be made at the December summit but that it remained a “huge challenge”.

He added: “We need to see progress from UK within 10 days on all issues, including on Ireland.”

As she left the gathering of European leaders, Ms May said: “There are still issues across the various matters we are negotiating on to be resolved, but there has been a very positive atmosphere in the talks and a genuine feeling that we want to move forward together.”

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has warned that the deadlock in Brexit negotiations cannot be broken until the border issue is resolved, and has demanded fresh assurances there will be no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney said on Friday it was difficult to see how border checks could be avoided if the UK quit the EU’s customs union and single market, leading to “regulatory divergence” between the North and the Republic.

 

BREXIT

EU gives May 10 days to improve her offer before trade talks begin

BRUSSELS: Theresa May has been given 10 days to improve her offer to the EU if she wants its leaders to allow Brexit talks to move on to transition and trade, reports Independent.co.uk. After a meeting in Brussels, European Council President Donald Tusk said Ms May would have to finalise her deal by 4 December when she is expected to meet other key EU officials. If Ms Mays offer on critical withdrawal issues including the divorce bill, EU citizens rights and the Irish border meets with approval, it will allow EU leaders to rule that significant progress has been made for negotiations to move forward at the European Council on 14 December. The Prime Minister hopes the crunch summit in Brussels will give a boost to the whole Brexit process and to the credibility of her leadership, which hinges on making a success of EU withdrawal. Friday saw the issue of the Irish border come under intense focus, amid increasing pressure for better guarantees on the issue from Dublin. After seeing Ms May on Friday, Mr Tusk said it was possible sufficient progress could be made at the December summit but that it remained a huge challenge. He added: We need to see progress from UK within 10 days on all issues, including on Ireland. As she left the gathering of European leaders, Ms May said: There are still issues across the various matters we are negotiating on to be resolved, but there has been a very positive atmosphere in the talks and a genuine feeling that we want to move forward together. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has warned that the deadlock in Brexit negotiations cannot be broken until the border issue is resolved, and has demanded fresh assurances there will be no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic. Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney said on Friday it was difficult to see how border checks could be avoided if the UK quit the EUs customs union and single market, leading to regulatory divergence between the North and the Republic.