Britain and EU fail to reach Brexit deal despite 'significant progress'
Brussels (CNN)Britain
and the European Union failed to reach a highly anticipated Brexit deal
on Monday despite "significant progress" on key outstanding issues,
both sides announced in Brussels.
Negotiators
had earlier appeared close to reaching an agreement on the Irish
border, the complex and historically sensitive issue that had emerged as
a final stumbling block.
But
after details of a draft deal leaked, the Democratic Unionist Party, a
small but hardline grouping from Northern Ireland that props up the
minority government of British Prime Minister Theresa May, said they
would not support it.
After
talks over lunch, May and EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker
acknowledged that some issues remained unresolved. Both said they were
confident of a deal soon that would allow talks to progress to a future
trading relationship.
Juncker said
that it was not possible to reach deal on Monday despite "significant
progress" made in recent days. "This is not a failure, this is the start
of the very last round. I am very confident that we will reach
agreement in the course of this week," he said.
European
Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker greets British PM Theresa May
prior to a crucial Brexit meeting at EU headquarters in Brussels on
Monday.
May
said meetings had been "constructive" but differences remained on a
"couple of issues." May said she remained confident an agreement could
be reached in the coming days.
'Critical moment' in talks
Britain has been desperate to secure an agreement from the EU that it would move on to discussions about trade.
But
the EU has insisted that "sufficient progress" must first be made on
three issues: that Britain pay a substantial "divorce bill," that rights
of European citizens in the UK are guaranteed and that there is no
reinstatement of a border infrastructure between Northern Ireland, which
will leave the EU with the rest of Britain in March 2019, and the
Republic of Ireland.
The dismantling of a so-called "hard border"
was a key plank of the Good Friday Agreement, which brought peace to
Northern Ireland after years of sectarian conflict. The Irish government
was determined to secure a cast-iron guarantee from the UK that there
would be no return to border controls after Brexit.
Substantial
progress on the divorce bill and on EU citizens was made last week but
wrangling on the Irish border continued through Sunday night and into
Monday.
It appeared on Monday morning that a deal on the Irish border was close.
Donald
Tusk, President of the European Council, scrapped a scheduled trip to
Israel, citing a "critical moment" in the negotiations. An EU official
said the trip was abandoned so that Tusk could be available for
"consultations on draft guidelines" for potential trade discussions.
Flags flap in the wind outside the EU headquarters in Brussels on Monday.
Philippe
Lamberts, leader of the Greens in the European Parliament, told CNN
that the British government had made a key concession: Northern Ireland
would continue to be aligned with EU laws and regulations that, if they
diverged, would require checks at the border. The concession was first
reported by the Irish public broadcaster, RTE.
After
details of the draft deal leaked, DUP leader Arlene Foster gave a TV
statement in which she said that her party "will not accept any form of
regulatory divergence which separates Northern Ireland economically or
politically from the rest of the United Kingdom."
Leo
Varadkar, the Irish Prime Minister, said he was "suprised and
disappointed" that an agreement was not concluded. He said that the
British and Irish governments had agreed the draft wording of a deal on
the Irish border on Monday morning. "That's the agreement we had, I
believe it stands," Varadkar said at a news conference in Dublin, adding
that he was prepared to give May more time. "I trust her," he said.
Repercussions in UK
Even
if the DUP came on board with an eventual deal, there could be other
consequences for May. The suggestion that Northern Ireland would enjoy a
special status withing the UK has infuriated leading figures in areas
of the UK that voted to remain in the European Union in the 2016 Brexit
referendum.
Nicola
Sturgeon, the First Minister of Scotland, wrote on Twitter: "If one
part of the UK can retain regulatory alignment with EU and effectively
stay in the single market (which is the right solution for Northern
Ireland) there is surely no good practical reason why others can't."
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said there were "huge ramifications" for the city if news of the deal turned out to be accurate.
He
said on Twitter: "Londoners overwhelmingly voted to remain in the EU
and a similar deal here could protect tens of thousands of jobs."
The
UK still hopes that the EU will deem sufficient progress to have been
made in order to give the go-ahead for negotiations to move on to a
second phase of negotiations at a summit next week. This phase would
focus on a future trade relationship between the UK and EU and
transitional arrangements.
