Donald Tusk accused MPs of showing a lack of respect for Theresa May, saying there would be no more negotiation on the withdrawal agreement. Speaking at a press conference at the close of a summit in Brussels, the European council president said: “We have treated Prime Minister May with the greatest respect, all of us, and we really appreciate the efforts by the prime minister to ratify our common agreement. My impression is that in fact we have treated prime minister May with a much greater empathy and respect than some MPs, for sure.”
Jean-Claude Juncker has denied describing Theresa May’s position as “nebulous”, saying he had been describing the “overall state of the debate in Britain”. “I was following the debate in the house and I can’t see where the British parliament is heading at and that’s why I was saying it’s nebulous,” he said. The European Commission president and the UK prime minister were filmed in a frosty exchange on Friday morning. Lip readers interpreted that May was taking issue with Juncker’s use of the word.
Speaking on Thursday night, Juncker had said:
Our UK friends need to say what they want, rather than asking what we want. We would like in a few weeks for our UK friends to set out their expectations because this debate is sometimes nebulous and imprecise and I would like clarifications.
Switzerland and UK strike bilateral trade agreement
Lisa O'Carroll
Liam Fox, the secretary of state for international trade, has announced the UK has reached an agreement for a transitional trade deal with Switzerland to allow it to continue trading freely after Brexit.
It is one of 40 “continuity” agreements he is seeking to strike with countries that currently trade with the UK through an EU agreement.
The deals will need to be ratified by parliament and would kick in in the event of no deal or an orderly exit from the bloc.
“This is one of the most significant existing trade agreements, with British companies exporting £19bn worth of goods and services last year and it will provide the certainty that businesses need to continue trading freely,” said Fox.
He said “many other agreements are also close to being agreed” and would come into effect as soon as the implementation period ended in January 2021 or on 29 March 2019 if the UK leaves the EU without a deal.
“It is a vital part of our no deal planning and it means that businesses and consumers can continue to benefit from our close trading relationships with the world beyond the European Union.”
The UK operates a trade surplus with Switzerland, with exports worth £19.04bn last year, with jewellery, precious stones and metal accounting for just over £10bn.
Switzerland and the UK have struck a bilateral trade agreement to support existing commercial and economic relations between the two countries post-Brexit. This will apply regardless of the eventual Brexit scenario. #mindthegap#SwissUKrelationshttps://t.co/pRqDvcPz6N
This is an interesting piece by Chris Deerin in the New Statesman, in which he says Scottish Tories are preparing to back a second referendum.
The Scottish Tories are preparing to back a second Brexit referendum and may even declare independence from the UK Conservatives - must-read piece by @ChrisDeerin. https://t.co/0fLcDxzVNP
“When I look at what’s going on down south, I feel appalled and embarrassed,” one prominent MSP tells me. “I hate the English party. I’m horrified at the support for no deal being expressed by party members. I’ve stopped reading ConservativeHome.”
The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has been speaking at a press conference. He made it clear that the ball was in the UK’s court, suggesting Theresa May’s next step was to restore the parliamentary vote on the withdrawal agreement.
He said: “Today we have a negotiation already and this is the only possible agreement and a good one, so if to speculate on what we would do, should not be a topic for us. Today is clearly for the British parliament to clearly take a stance on the agreement negotiated by Theresa May and her team and the EU to purely say whether they accept this agreement.”
The Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, told journalists that May suggested legal assurances could be given around the start date for a future relationship or trade deal – something he rejected.
There were suggestions, some of them perhaps made sense, others would be difficult. One is that we would commit to a particular date to have the future relationship treaty, the trade deal.
We can commit to our best endeavours and say we will work towards a target date. It is not possible to say that we will definitely meet that date. The future relationship treaty will be more complicated, it will have to be ratified by 28 member parliaments.”
He said negotiations on the UK’s future relationship with the EU would begin as soon as possible once the withdrawal treaty was dealt with.
For us to make a legal commitment to have a done deal at a particular moment or time, that is not possible because it is not in our gift to deliver that. We cannot promise anything that is not in our power to deliver.
Here is a quick summary of the press conference with Jean-Claude Juncker, Donald Tusk and Sebastian Kurz.
Juncker said the EU was ready to start talks on a future relationship as soon as the withdrawal agreement was ratified in an attempt to assuage doubts over the Irish border backstop. He added: “We have to bring down the temperature. These attacks coming from Westminster against Europe and the European commission will not be responded to in the same way by Europe and the European commission, although I would like to do it.”
Tusk said he had “no mandate” for renegotiating the withdrawal agreement, but added that he would remain at May’s disposal. He said: “Yesterday’s conclusions are quite clear I think and we have to treat it as a good sign … we are ready to reconfirm our assurances and our goodwill and good faith when it comes to the so-called backstop.”
Juncker said he had not realise that the term “nebulous” existed in English – so implied that there had been a slight mistranslation – and said he been referring to the state of the debate in Britain and not to her personal position. He said: “Theresa May is a good friend of ours. We have the highest respect for the British prime minister, because she has to deliver a very difficult job.”
This, from Lisa O’Carroll, the Guardian’s Brexit correspondent
BREAKING: Juncker wants trade talks to open now. I noted that there is a deep mistrust in the House when it comes to EU. that is not a good basis for future relations". In order to prove we are serious .. "we don’t wantbackstop to be a perm then we have ..start our negotiation" pic.twitter.com/WYCl78KFud
Sebastian Kurz says: “I was in the meeting and not all rumours in the media really go in line with how the meeting was. I think the problem is just that we have two different positions but that is all. I think Theresa May was a tough negotiator in the meeting and made her point very clear. And, on the other side, the EU27 are united, which is good, and were able to make our point clear.”
“Merry Christmas,” says Juncker and the press conference is concluded.
Jean-Claude Juncker is asked about his run-in with May this morning.
“We were not dancing. I think at the very first moment … she thought that I did criticise her by saying yesterday night that the British position was nebulous. I didn’t know that this word exists in English ... I did not refer to her, but to the overall state of the debate in Britain.
“As I told you earlier, I was following the debate in the house and I can’t see where the British parliament is heading at, and that’s why I was saying that this was nebulous, foggy, in England. I was not addressing her, and in the course of the morning after checking what I’d said yesterday night, she was kissing me.”
Tusk adds: “We have treated prime minster May with the greatest respect. All of us. And we really appreciate the effort by the prime minister to ratify our common agreement. My impression is that we have treated prime minister May with much greater empathy and respect than some British MPs, for sure.”
Juncker says: “I have to add that Theresa May is a good friend of us. We have the greatest respect for the British prime minister because she has a very difficult job.”
Donald Tusk says: “Our intention was clear from the very beginning. Yesterday’s conclusions are quite clear I think. And we have to treat it as a good sign. I mean that we are ready to reconfirm our assurances, our goodwill and our good faith when it comes to the so-called backstop.” He said he had no mandate to reopen the negotiations, but that he was always at Theresa May’s disposal.
Jean-Claude Juncker said May was a good friend. “This is a woman of great courage, doing a job in the best way possible,” he said. “I am supporting her.”
Juncker said he watched the debates on the agreement in the House of Commons and noticed there was deep mistrust of the EU. He said the EU needed to prove to MPs that they did not want the backstop to be “a permanent instrument”. He added: “No one in the room did agree to reopening the withdrawal agreement. The withdrawal agreement will stay.”
Here is Labour’s response to Theresa May’s earlier comments:
The last 24 hours have confirmed that Theresa May’s Brexit deal is dead in the water. The prime minister has utterly failed in her attempts to deliver any meaningful changes to her botched deal. Rather than ploughing ahead and dangerously running down the clock, the prime minister needs to put her deal to a vote next week so parliament can take back control.
Angela Merkel has been giving a press conference and the Guardian’s Berlin correspondent Kate Connolly has been listening.
Merkel said the exit deal would not change. She said the integrity of the single market must stay intact and the Good Friday agreement must remain intact. “None of the EU 27 wants the Backstop to be needed, but it is there,” she said. “Let’s see how the British prime minister reacts to this,” Merkel added.
This is from the Guardian’s Brussels correspondent, Jennifer Rankin.
Asked whether EU would offer Theresa May further assurances or concessions, Angela Merkel simply notes EU's existing position: no renegotiation WDA, EU doesn't want backstop either.
Angela Merkel, like rest of EU, thinks summit communique already has some legal weight. Assurances are "not just a sheet of paper, but these are conclusions of the 27" she says.
Merkel asked again whether EU can give more Brexit assurances: "The 27 member states have given assurances, they are contained in the conclusions of yesterday evening. That is our position." That sounds like no.
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