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The bloc’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, repeated his offer to re-write his blueprint for avoiding a hard border between the U.K. and Ireland -- the issue that has held up progress in negotiations since March. The British premier initially rejected Barnier’s original plan as “unacceptable” because it involved keeping Northern Ireland in the EU’s customs territory.
Over dinner with her fellow EU leaders in Salzburg, Austria, on Wednesday, May will hammer home her message that carving out a piece of U.K. territory will never be an option, but she’ll insist she’s committed to reaching an agreement if better terms are proposed, according to a senior U.K. official.
“Our proposal for the backstop for Ireland and Northern Ireland has been on the table since February,” Barnier told reporters in Brussels on Tuesday. “We are ready to improve this proposal.”
The positive signs on resolving the Irish border question emerged as time runs out for the two sides to finalize the terms of the U.K.’s divorce.
For her part, May wrote an editorial in Die Wielt, a German newspaper: “To come to a successful conclusion, just as the U.K. has evolved its position, the EU will need to do the same. Neither side can demand the unacceptable of the other.”
Barnier warned May that substantial progress on the U.K.’s orderly withdrawal from the bloc is needed next month if a deal is to be struck in time for the departure in March.
“October will be the moment of truth,” Barnier said. “It’s then we will see whether the agreement we’re hoping for will be within our grasp.”
At the gathering in Salzburg, leaders are expected to discuss holding an extra summit in November to sign off on the Brexit agreement. Both sides admit they won’t hit their original deadline -- their meeting in mid-October -- but say time remains tight to allow approval by both the British and European parliaments. [...]
Press statement by Michel Barnier following the General Affairs Council (Article 50)
Related: Remarks by President Donald Tusk ahead of the informal Salzburg summit
The Brexit negotiations are entering their decisive phase. Various scenarios are still possible today, but I would like to stress that some of Prime Minister May's proposals from Chequers indicate a positive evolution in the UK's approach as well as a will to minimise the negative effects of Brexit. By this I mean, among other things, the readiness to cooperate closely in the area of security and foreign policy. On other issues, such as the Irish question, or the framework for economic cooperation, the UK's proposals will need to be reworked and further negotiated. Today there is perhaps more hope, but there is surely less and less time. Therefore, every day that is left, we must use for talks. I would like to finalise them still this autumn. This is why, at tomorrow's meeting of the twenty-seven, I will propose calling an additional summit around mid-November. [...]