Pay £48BILLION for a Brexit deal by Christmas: EU leaders make demand as they prepare to start talks on trade deal with Britain as soon as next month
- A senior diplomat reportedly said that EU leaders would accept £30billion, bringing the total bill to £46billion
- Emmanuel Macron yesterday warned that UK's divorce bill offer was not even 'halfway' to what the EU wanted
- Last night it emerged that formal talks on a comprehensive free trade deal could begin as soon as next month
A Brexit deal could be agreed as soon as Christmas - but only if the UK pays £48bn, EU leaders said on Friday.
In a meeting held after Theresa May attended a Brussels summit, EU leaders gave the order to prepare for a trade deal.
However the talks will only go ahead if the Prime Minister agrees to pay the eye-watering sum, according to reports.
British Prime Minister Theresa
May holds a news conference on the second day of the European Council
Meeting in Brussels on Friday
An unnamed senior diplomat told The Sun
that leaders would accept £30billion for future commitments. Along with
the 18billion offered for the transition period between 2019 and 2021
this would amount to £46billion.
News of the possible deal comes after Emmanuel Macron threw cold water on hopes of a Brexit breakthrough - warning that the UK's divorce bill offer was not even 'halfway' to what the EU wanted.
The French president delivered a grim assessment of the standoff, saying Theresa May would have to make more significant concessions for trade negotiations to be able to start in December.
Last night it emerged that formal talks on a comprehensive free trade deal with the EU could begin as soon as next month.
At one point before her
bilateral meeting with Mr Tusk this morning the PM was left sitting all
by herself - summing up her status at the summit despite attempts by
other leaders to show warmth
Mr Macron and Mrs Merkel appear to have developed a close working rapport since he became president
Theresa May was seen deep in
conversation with Malta's Prime Minister Joseph Muscat at a breakfast
session on the second day of the EU summit
In a breakthrough for Theresa May, the EU said it was starting work on its negotiating stance on trade immediately.
Donald
Tusk, EU Council president, said he was ready to receive British
proposals for a trade deal – despite the fact EU leaders ruled yesterday
that there had not yet been 'sufficient progress' on the 'divorce
bill'.
The move came amid growing
concern on the Continent about the possibility of a messy split from the
UK, the EU's biggest trading partner.
Belgian
economy minister Kris Peeters said a no-deal Brexit could cost
1.2million jobs across the EU and have a 'catastrophic' effect on his
own country. He said the figures, from an official Belgian study, showed
'how important it is to reach a deal'.
German chancellor Angela Merkel yesterday said she was hopeful of beginning formal trade talks with the UK in December.
EU
officials told the Daily Mail an informal summit in Gothenburg on
November 17 could be expanded to include discussions on trade and a
two-year transitional deal.
Dutch prime
minister Mark Rutte said Mrs May's Brexit presentation to EU leaders on
Thursday night had been 'helpful' – and revealed they had told her:
'You might want to see us in Gothenburg.'
A
senior EU official said: 'Of course we can have a meeting before
December. It truly depends on whether there will be any step [forward]
on the UK side or not.'
Rapid progress
will depend on the Prime Minister providing fellow leaders with more
detail on how much she is willing to pay in a 'divorce' settlement. Mr
Rutte said the EU needed 'more meat on the bone' about Mrs May's pledge
to 'honour our commitments' to the EU.
But
Mrs Merkel struck an upbeat note, saying there were 'zero indications'
that the talks would end without a deal. She added: 'I truly want an
agreement – and not an unpredictable resolution.'
The French president delivered a
grim assessment of the standoff today, saying Theresa May would have to
make more significant concessions for trade negotiations to be able to
start in December
Mr Macron struck a significantly harder tone on Brexit than his fellow leaders, who appeared optimistic about a deal
Mr Juncker talks with Mrs Merkel
in Brussels today. In the background is the commission president's
powerful chief of staff, Martin Selmayr
Donald Tusk and Mrs Merkel both went out of their way to be optimistic about the direction of the Brexit discussions
But
she warned that the divorce bill had been 'dominant' in discussions –
and that trade talks were likely to be 'much more difficult'.
EU
leaders offered Mrs May the olive branch on trade after she warned them
her political weakness at home meant she could not be pushed much
further.
The Prime Minister is under
pressure from Tory Eurosceptics to pull the plug on the talks if they
drag on for much longer and to prepare the UK to leave without a deal.
In
a presentation over dinner in Brussels, she urged fellow leaders to
give her a deal 'we can defend to our people'. Some EU leaders are said
to fear they could end up having to negotiate with Boris Johnson or even
Jeremy Corbyn if they allow Mrs May to fail.
The
Prime Minister yesterday said Brexit negotiations still had 'some way
to go'. But officials were privately encouraged by the breakthrough in
talks, which the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier this month warned
were 'deadlocked'.
Tory MP Michael
Fabricant said last night: 'We always knew the EU would play for time
and try and bargain for as much cash as possible … But the EU needs
trade too.'
In a sign of the tensions
Brexit is causing in Brussels, Mr Tusk questioned Mr Barnier's
assessment, saying: 'After Prime Minister May's intervention last night
and our discussion about Brexit this morning, my impression is that the
reports of the deadlock between the EU and UK have been exaggerated.'
But Jean-Claude Juncker claimed he 'would have used the word deadlock
four times, not only three times'.
The European Commission president added: 'I hate no deal. I want a fair deal with Britain.'
Mr
Tusk yesterday said: 'I would like to assure our British friends that
in our internal work we will take account of proposals presented.'
This
will allow UK officials to influence a deal much earlier than expected.
The EU's 27 remaining members took just 90 seconds to approve the
so-called 'scoping' work in preparation for possible
The EU leaders gathered for a breakfast discussion, before Mrs May left the session and the Brexit process was considered
Theresa May held bilateral talks
with European Council president Donald Tusk today as she battles to
find a way through the Brexit impasse
