Talks with Britain on amending its divorce deal with the European Union have made no headway and no swift solution is in sight, EU officials said on Wednesday, a week before British lawmakers must vote on the plan to avoid a chaotic Brexit.FILE PHOTO: British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks at the European Council headquarters in Brussels, Belgium February 7, 2019. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir/File Photo
Diplomats said talks in Brussels on Tuesday led by British Prime Minister Theresa May’s chief lawyer, Geoffrey Cox, failed to find common ground, with barely over three weeks to go before Britain’s scheduled departure on March 29.
At the heart of the impasse is the Irish “backstop”, an insurance policy May accepted in the withdrawal deal to ensure no return to a hard border between the British province of Northern Ireland and EU member Ireland after Brexit.
May now wants legally binding changes to the backstop to ensure it will not be indefinite, to allay concerns among lawmakers that Britain could be locked in a continued customs union with the EU. Brussels has offered assurances the backstop would be temporary pending a future trade deal with Britain.
EU Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier said after more than three hours of talks with Cox that “while the talks take place in a constructive atmosphere, discussions have been difficult”, according to the European Commission spokeswoman.
“No solution has been identified at this point,” Margaritis Schinas told a news conference.
Cox said on Wednesday the discussions in Brussels the previous day were “robust” and detailed.
A spokesman for May said technical talks would now continue, but again repeated Britain’s line that the EU has said it wants “this to be resolved”.
“Parliament has been clear that in order for this to happen we require legally binding changes which mean the UK cannot be trapped in the backstop indefinitely, and that is what we will continue to pursue,” he told reporters.
But an EU official said it was unlikely there would be a deal before the weekend, which would mean talks could run close to March 12, a date by which May has promised parliament it will have another vote on her Brexit blueprint.
BY REAUTERS
