The European Union is ready to address key British concerns over Northern Ireland, the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier said on Tuesday, in a clear push to get a Brexit deal effectively done in the next month.
A no-deal exit from the European Union would deliver a “hammer blow” to the British economy, the head of the CBI has warned. The business body’s director general Carolyn Fairbairn said the country should get behind Prime Minister Theresa May’s Chequers proposals as a blueprint for a Brexit deal.
Sterling surged against the dollar and Euro on Monday after the European Union's chief negotiator said a Brexit deal was “realistic in six to eight weeks”. For the second time in less than a week, Michel Barnier has signaled his desire to move ahead on the Brexit negotiations, less than seven months before the United Kingdom is slated to leave the European Union on March 29, 2019.
The EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier has said he is “strongly” opposed to key parts of Theresa May's proposals for a future trade deal. On Sunday morning the prime minister said she would not compromise on the UK government's Chequers plan.
Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab is preparing for six hours of talks with the EU's chief negotiator. He will meet Michel Barnier in Brussels on Friday for the extended session ahead of an EU summit on 17 October. Both sides are hoping to agree a divorce deal and a statement on future trading relations before the summit.
The EU must back Theresa May's Brexit plan or risk the UK leaving without a deal, the most senior member of the UK PM's cabinet has said. Cabinet Office Minister David Lidington said the European Commission's proposals remained unacceptable and he appealed for compromise from the EU side in Brexit talks.
A no-deal Brexit poses a risk to the public because the UK would lose access to EU-wide security powers and databases, police leaders have warned. Police and crime commissioners say law enforcement agencies “face a significant loss of operational capacity” if the arrangements stop.
Liam Fox says the chance of a no-deal Brexit is growing, blaming the intransigence of the European Commission. The international trade secretary and Brexiteer put the chance of failing to come to an agreement at 60-40. He told the Sunday Times that Brussels' chief negotiator had dismissed the UK's Chequers proposals simply because we have never done it before.
A deal with the EU can be reached by October but the UK is preparing for the possibility of no deal, Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab has said. Raab is expected on Thursday in Brussels for further talks and pledged to strain “every sinew” to get “the best deal”. But, the government had plans in place in case talks did not end well, he admitted in an interview with BBC.
The European Commission has issued a warning to governments, businesses and citizens in the 27 remaining EU states to prepare for “significant disruption” as a result of Brexit.