The Gardian
Theresa May is to make an emergency dash to Brussels on Saturday to complete the Brexit negotiations after the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, threatened to pull the plug on the Sunday leaders’ summit.
As she emerged from talks in Brussels lasting nearly two hours with the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, the British prime minister admitted that there were some major issues to resolve.
Merkel had let it be known through her diplomats in Brussels that she was unwilling to negotiate with May on Sunday at the extraordinary Brexit summit. She had demanded a finalised agreement to emerge in good time before the leaders’ meeting.
The development threatened to disrupt Downing Street’s plans for agreement among leaders this month in time for a meaningful vote in parliament in early December.
After meeting the European commission president on Wednesday, May said: “We have had a very good meeting this evening. We have made further progress and as a result, we have given sufficient direction to our negotiators.
“I hope for them to be able to resolve the remaining issues and that work will start immediately. I now plan to return for further meetings, including with President Junker, on Saturday to discuss how we can bring to a conclusion this process and bring it to a conclusion in the interests of all our people.”
Asked why a plan to complete the negotiations on Wednesday evening, ready for publication of the full Brexit deal on Thursday, had not come to pass, the prime minister said: “Well, there are some further issues that need resolution.
“We have given direction to our negotiators this evening. The work on those issues will now start immediately. I believe we have been able to given sufficient direction for them to be able to resolve those remaining issues.”
A commission spokesman said: “Very good progress was made in the meeting between President Juncker and Prime Minister Theresa May. Work is continuing.”
The two sides have already signed off on the 585-page withdrawal agreement covering citizens’ rights, the £39bn financial settlement and the Irish border. Negotiators have been continuing to work on the terms of the political declaration, a seven-page outline of which was published last week.
German officials had told the other EU member states at a meeting on Tuesday that Merkel was not willing to negotiate on Sunday, and her aides would need to see a finalised version of the political declaration in good time.
Germany was understood be frustrated by continued attempts by France, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium to insert more concrete assurances on access to British fishing waters as a condition for a trade agreement.
Spain has been demanding an assurance that Gibraltar would not be covered by any future trade deal unless Madrid gives its consent. The Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has said he would not give his government’s agreement to the deal on Sunday without such a guarantee.
On Wednesday evening, Sánchez said its demands over Gibraltar were “essential” and a clause in the withdrawal agreement giving the rock the same benefits as the UK was not acceptable.
He said: “We are conscious that this is an essential point and if this is not resolved then unfortunately Spain will not be able to vote in favour of it.”
May in turn has been seeking to insert stronger references to her proposals on “frictionless” trade in goods into the political declaration. Berlin fears a drawn-out summit on Sunday could let “Chequers in via the backdoor”, according to senior EU diplomats.
The French have also warned that they should not allow the unity of the last two years to fall at the last moment and put the integrity of the single market in danger, according to a diplomatic note seen by the Guardian.
May has been hoping the appearance of last-minute concessions on Britain’s future trading relationship will help her sell the deal to sceptical MPs when she brings it to parliament, probably early next month.
In recent days, ministers have begun to play down the risks of a no-deal Brexit, and focus on the idea that by rejecting the deal, MPs would be opening the way for Brexit to be blocked altogether – an argument aimed at winning over Eurosceptics.
Minutes of last week’s fraught cabinet meeting obtained by the Daily Telegraph underlined the concerns of some ministers about the deal.
The foreign secretary, Jeremy Hunt, said that it risked becoming a “Turkey trap” – a reference to the country’s drawn-out negotiations to enter the bloc.
However, Downing Street sources pointed out that while Dominic Raab and Esther McVey has resigned, other cabinet ministers, including Hunt, had remained in post and agreed to back the prime minister’s deal.
The new work and pensions secretary, Amber Rudd, said on Wednesday she believed a no-deal would be blocked by MPs. “There is not a majority in the House of Commons to allow that to take place,” she told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Instead, she warned Conservative rebels considering voting against the prime minister’s final deal that “Brexiters may lose their Brexit”.
Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said Rudd’s remarks “badly undermine” May’s strategy of presenting “a stark choice between her deal and the cliff edge of no-deal”.
Writing for the Guardian, the Scottish National party leader claimed there was, “an emerging cross-party consensus that can lead to a much better outcome, with broad agreement between the SNP, Labour, the Lib Dems, Plaid Cymru, the Greens – and indeed some Conservatives – that parliament must reject both the current proposal and a no-deal outcome”.
But with May’s hand strengthened by the failure of Jacob Rees-Mogg’s attempt to trigger a leadership contest, Downing Street hopes a successful outcome to the weekend summit will be a key part of the choreography leading up to the meaningful vote.
It is possible that further EU demands on fisheries, and on the UK’s need to dynamically align on environmental, social and labour regulations in any future deal, could be made in side declarations.
The Polish prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, whose government has been in constant conflict with Brussels, said the other member states making further demands were “on thin ice”.
Merkel, speaking in the Bundestag, said her government was ready to approve the Brexit deal but admitted concerns about Spain’s intentions towards Gibraltar.
“I can’t say exactly how we solve this issue, but I hope it will be solved by Sunday,” she said.
The German finance minister, Peter Altmaier, told the BBC’s Newsnight programme that a Brexit deal should be agreed on Sunday if possible. “I believe the sooner we can give the message that we have agreed a soft Brexit, the better it would be for everybody,” he said.
May has spoken to a number of EU leaders and plans to speak to more. She is holding a working lunch with the Austrian chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, in Downing Street on Thursday.
