The EU issued an unequivocal rejection of Theresa May’s Chequers proposal at summit on Thursday, despite the prime minister’s warning that it was the only alternative to ‘no deal.’
Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, said the EU27 all agreed that Mrs May’s proposal “will not work.”
“Everybody shared the view that while there are positive elements in the Chequers proposal, the suggested framework for economic cooperation will not work, not least because it risks undermining the Single Market,” Mr Tusk said at the EU’s informal summit in Salzburg.
Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, added that the EU was ready for a no deal scenario.
“No deal is not my working assumption but would it happen we are prepared. Commission has prepared in detail for all the consequences of a no deal. So don’t worry. Be happy, don’t worry,” he said.
Earlier that day, two EU leaders claimed there was “almost unanimous” support among them for the UK to hold a second Brexit referendum, as Theresa May warned that Britain was willing to walk away without a deal. – The Telegraph
A discussion of Theresa May’s Chequers Brexit trade plan by the 27 EU leaders resulted in “everybody” agreeing that the proposal “will not work”, the president of the European Council has said.
Speaking at the end of the Salzburg summit Donald Tusk told reporters that a planned November summit to finalise a deal might not happen and that the Council would decide in October “whether conditions are there to call an extra summit”. The Independent
French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday said British Prime Minister’s so-called Chequers plan for Brexit was not acceptable following two days of EU talks in the Austrian city of Salzburg.
While noting that the Chequers plan was “a good and brave step” by Britain’s May, the French president stressed that the blueprint was not a “take it or leave it” plan and that the bloc would “never accept a deal which would damage the EU and its integrity”.
Addressing a press conference after the bloc’s 27 leaders met — without May — Macron said “We are today at the hour of truth” and that the bloc expected “new British proposals in October”. – France24
Il piano della premier britannica Theresa May per un accordo con l’Unione europea per il dopo-Brexit “non funzionerà in alcuni punti chiave”, come le intese commerciali. Lo ha dichiarato il presidente del Consiglio europeo, Donald Tusk, al termine del vertice informale dei leader a Salisburgo. “Il cosiddetto piano Chequers minerebbe il mercato unico dell’Europa”, ha aggiunto. TgCom
European leaders on Thursday called for a new spirit of compromise over the UK’s exit from the EU, as they met to discuss how to remove roadblocks to a deal which they want to sign by mid-November.
On Thursday, Simon Coveney, Ireland’s deputy prime minister, called on Mrs May to reach an agreement with the EU over the border, saying that Dublin only wanted to maintain the status quo on the frontier. “I think [European negotiators] are going to considerable lengths to try to accommodate concerns around constitutional integrity because nobody here is looking to undermine the constitutional integrity of the UK,” he said. – FT
Si è concluso a Salisburgo il summit informale dei capi di Stato e di governo dell’Unione Europea. Un vertice che il Presidente della Commissione saluta come utile e positivo ma i cui effetti dovranno ancora essere vagliati. Soprattutto sulla gestione delle migrazioni e sull’altro tema al centro del confronto, quello della Brexit. – RaiNews 24
