Skip to content 
Search

Latest Stories

European Governments Debate Painful Details Of Brexit

European governments started to thrash out a plan for close ties with post-Brexit Britain on Monday (19) in the last week before they gather to sign their divorce papers.

Ministers from the other 27 EU members met in Brussels at the start of what prime minister Theresa May calls "an intense week of negotiations" ahead of Sunday's summit


"A painful week in European politics is starting," Austrian minister for Europe Gernot Blumel, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, told reporters.

"We have the divorce papers on the table. 45 years of difficult marriage are coming to an end."

The British leader has said she will be in the city herself this week to see the president of the EU Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, for last-ditch talks.

'Workable' Deal

Neither May nor European leaders are keen to reopen the draft Brexit withdrawal agreement that was grudgingly approved by the British cabinet last week.

But both sides are scrambling to finalise a parallel political declaration that will set out a road-map for post-Brexit negotiations on future EU-UK ties.

"Now that there is a concept withdrawal agreement we think that it is satisfying, it's workable, and we will invest our energy now in the political agreement," Dutch foreign minister Stef Blok said.

London wants to lay out in as much detail as possible a route to a free trade agreement, in part to shore up support in a British parliament that may yet reject the deal.

Brussels, meanwhile, insists Britain cannot have the same privileged access to the single market as it did as a member state after Brexit on March 29 next year.

European negotiators plan to publish their version of the statement on future relations on Tuesday (20).

On Sunday (18), according to diplomatic sources, EU ambassadors fleshed out the document from just over six pages to around 20 as more details were agreed.

They also discussed an EU proposal that the draft withdrawal agreement be amended to extend the planned 21-month post-Brexit transition by two years to the end of 2022.

No decision was taken on this, however, and members are wary of re-opening the document and allowing British hardliners to restart a debate on its terms.

Ministers arriving at Monday's meeting would not be drawn on this. "It's still open," Blok said.

Blumel said March 29 is set as Brexit day and the withdrawal will be approved as is on Sunday, while the political declaration would seek "as close a relationship as possible."

In the meantime, EU Council president Donald Tusk is going ahead with plans to bring May and her fellow leaders together on November 25 to sign the deal.

"We now have an intense week of negotiations ahead of us," May will tell British business leaders on Monday, according to Downing Street.

"During that time I expect us to hammer out the full and final details of the framework that will underpin our future relationship," she was to say.

"And I am confident that we can strike a deal at the council that I can take back to the House of Commons."

The integrity of the Union

While the EU 27 and their negotiator, Michel Barnier, have remained publicly united through the 17-month negotiation, Britain's political camps are at war.

Whether or not May wins an improved future partnership offer this week, she still has to get the withdrawal deal itself past parliament.

Conservative hardliners and May's Northern Irish unionist allies have pledged to vote down the treaty despite the threat of a calamitous no-deal Brexit.

And the opposition Labour Party, scenting a chance to topple May's government, has also warned that its members will not support her deal.

After making what they see as an offer that respects Britain's desire to leave but preserves the integrity of the Union, EU officials are surprised by the furious debate.

Publicly, they refuse to intervene in Britain's affairs, but privately they insist both sides "exhausted their margin to manoeuvre" in the divorce negotiation.

"Of course both sides have to pass parliament. It goes for the UK but it also goes for the Europeans," Blok said.

"So this political declaration really lays the foundation of our future relationship, it has to be ambitious," he added.

Some member states were annoyed that their rights to fish in British waters were not guaranteed in the withdrawal deal and have been left to future talks.

And Spain also has concerns about the future status of Gibraltar, the British territory on its southern coast, a diplomatic source said.

But grumbles remained behind closed doors because, in the words of one European diplomat, the ambassadors agreed "not to pour oil into the British fire."

And of the divorce deal, Belgium's Foreign Minister Didier Reynders said: "Here it will survive. We are waiting for the same situation in London, but here in Brussels it will survive."

Agence France-Presse

More For You

Bangladesh seeks US deal to shield garment industry from tariffs

Workers are engaged at their sewing stations in a garment factory in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka, on April 9, 2025. (Photo by MUNIR UZ ZAMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

Bangladesh seeks US deal to shield garment industry from tariffs

BANGLADESH, the world's second-biggest garment manufacturer, aims to strike a trade deal with the US before Donald Trump's punishing tariffs kick in next week, said the country's top commerce official.

Dhaka is proposing to buy Boeing planes and boost imports of US wheat, cotton and oil in a bid to reduce the trade deficit, which Trump used as the reason for imposing painful levies in his "Liberation Day" announcement.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK business district
The Canary Wharf business district including global financial institutions in London.
Getty Images

Bond yields ease following Starmer’s support for Reeves

THE COST of UK government borrowing fell on Thursday, partially reversing the rise seen after Chancellor Rachel Reeves became emotional during Prime Minister’s Questions.

The yield on 10-year government bonds dropped to 4.55 per cent, down from 4.61 per cent the previous day. The pound also recovered slightly to $1.3668 (around £1.00), though it did not regain all its earlier losses.

Keep ReadingShow less
modi-trump-getty
Modi shakes hands with Trump before a meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on February 25, 2020. (Photo: Getty Images)
Getty Images

Indian exporters watch closely as Trump says trade deal with India likely

THE US could reach a trade deal with India that would help American companies compete more easily in the Indian market and reduce tariff rates, President Donald Trump said on Tuesday. However, he cast doubt on a similar deal with Japan.

Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, Trump said he believed India was ready to lower trade barriers, potentially paving the way for an agreement that would avoid the 26 per cent tariff rate he had announced on April 2 and paused until July 9.

Keep ReadingShow less
Kolhapuri sandal sales surge in India post Prada controversy

Customers shop for 'Kolhapuri' sandals, an Indian ethnic footwear, at a store in New Delhi, India, June 27, 2025. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi

Kolhapuri sandal sales surge in India post Prada controversy

INDIAN footwear sellers and artisans are tapping into nationalist pride stoked by the Prada 'sandal scandal' in a bid to boost sales of ethnic slippers with history dating back to the 12th century, raising hopes of reviving a struggling craft.

Sales are surging over the past week for the 'Kolhapuri' sandals that have garnered global attention after Prada sparked a controversy by showcasing similar designs in Milan, without initially crediting the footwear's origins.

Keep ReadingShow less
UK business district
The Canary Wharf business district including global financial institutions in London.
Getty Images

Economy grew 0.7 per cent in Q1 2025, fastest in a year

THE UK economy expanded at its fastest pace in a year during the first quarter of 2025, driven by a rise in home purchases ahead of a tax deadline and higher manufacturing output before the introduction of new US import tariffs.

Gross domestic product rose by 0.7 per cent in the January-to-March period, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, confirming its earlier estimate. This was the strongest quarterly growth since the first quarter of 2024.

Keep ReadingShow less