It is considering new „legal assurances“ that will help make the exit agreement in the British House of Commons a majority.
Negotiators on both sides discussed in Brussels, but for the time being without tangible result. It should give further discussions, explained a spokesman of the European Union commission afterwards.
The time pressure is enormous: next week, Prime Minister Theresa May has to report to Parliament. Whether possible agreements with the EU can really help is open.
May had met with European Commission chief executive Jean-Claude Juncker on Wednesday evening and initially failed to make a breakthrough. Nevertheless, May spoke of progress afterwards. Today, Brexit Minister Stephen Barclay and Attorney General Geoffrey Cox came to Brussels for talks with EU Chief Negotiator Michel Barnier to explore a possible agreement.
It is still about the contract negotiated by May with the EU, with which the UK’s withdrawal from the EU on 29 March is to take place. This would result in a transitional period, with virtually nothing left until the end of 2020.
The agreement had failed in mid-January in the British lower house. As a result, May pressed for improvements in the contract, but the EU refused. In a joint statement by May and Juncker on Wednesday evening, there is now only talk of „guarantees“ and „legal assurances“ about which we want to talk further.
The main point of contention is the contracted guarantee for an open border between the EU state of Ireland and the British Northern Ireland, the so-called backstop. This provides that Britain will remain in a customs union with the EU until a better solution is found.
Brexit supporters warn that Britain may be permanently trapped. The EU has already stated that it does not want that and the backstop should be as short as possible. It is now attempted to cast this commitment in a more binding form.
If the problem with the backstop is solved, a majority in the lower house will find for the deal, of which the government in London is firmly convinced, said Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt. Critics and the opposition in London, however, have great doubts. Mays majority in parliament is getting shaky anyway. Three conservative MPs have already left the party, with two more threatening to leave without agreement.
Opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn himself traveled to Brussels to promote the EU’s alternative plan. He wants to make the backstop redundant with a permanent customs union and a connection of Great Britain to the EU internal market. However, this would be exactly the enduring attachment to the EU frowned upon by the Brexit hardliners. May rejects this with a view to the Brexit wing of her party.
Corbyn claimed that May had to give up her red lines instead of playing for time. His plan is credible and realistic. He was also ready to meet with May again. A chaotic departure from the table. „The risk of a no-deal exit from the European Union is very serious and very present for the UK,“ Corbyn said.
British Chancellor Philip Hammond also sees Brexit as a „big black cloud“ over his country’s economy. Only five weeks before leaving the EU, companies suffered most from the unclear situation, he told the BBC.
The US rating agency Fitch warned that the risk of a „no deal“ had risen. Fitch therefore set the UK rating on „Watch Negative“, indicating a potential downgrade of the country’s credit rating.
