Bloodied, but not yet beaten, British Prime Minister Theresa May yesterday met EU leaders to ask for concessions that might save her Brexit deal, but said that she does not expect a rapid breakthrough.
May late on Wednesday survived a confidence vote staged by her own party’s lawmakers, but said as she arrived at an EU summit that she would not fight the next general election planned for 2022.
Instead, her focus is on salvaging her plan for an orderly Brexit and on persuading her European counterparts to offer guarantees that Britain would not remain trapped indefinitely in their customs union.
Photo: AFP
The other 27 EU leaders have agreed to draft a reassuring statement, but remain opposed to renegotiating the withdrawal deal.
“I don’t expect an immediate breakthrough, but what I do hope is that we can start to work as quickly as possible on the assurances that are necessary,” May said.
European diplomats are discussing a two-step plan that would see a brief political statement issued at the summit, followed next month by a legal interpretation of the deal.
May was due to meet EU President Donald Tusk for what he called “last-minute talks” before joining the other European leaders.
EU members have drawn up a draft six-paragraph statement they hope will appease British concerns about the so-called “Irish backstop.”
With a UK parliamentary vote on the deal delayed until next month, May wants Europe to sweeten the offer with “reassurances” that measures to prevent the return of a hard border with Ireland would not last indefinitely.
The proposed statement is to declare that any backstop “would only be in place for a short period and only as long as strictly necessary,” European diplomats said.
This would not be the legally binding promise, sought by Brexiteers, that the backstop would not be used to indefinitely bind the UK into a customs union.
“This is incredibly innocent language. Nothing of this is new. There is no end date for the backstop,” one European source said.
European officials say that the backstop must stay.
May’s confidence vote victory made her immune from a further challenge in her party for a year.
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