Britain and EU are miles apart on Brexit talks

UK PM May said to have called for working on trade deal simultaneously with talks on Britain's exit

No one expects negotiations over Britain’s exit from the European Union to go smoothly over the next two years, but a German newspaper’s account of a dinner last Wednesday between the British prime minister, Theresa May, and senior European Union officials suggests that round one, at least, was particularly discordant.

 

On Sunday, the German newspaper, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, ran an article, clearly leaked by officials in the European Commission, that described a considerable gulf between May, who called for a snap election on June 8, and Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the commission, as well as the bloc’s chief negotiator on Britain’s exit, Michel Barnier.

 

According to the German newspaper and some from Britain, like The Sunday Times of London, Juncker came away believing that May was not just in “a state of denial,” but in “a different galaxy,” as he was said to have reported in an early morning telephone call the next day to Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany. The paper reported that May said at one point, “Let’s make Brexit a success.” Juncker was said to have replied, “Brexit cannot be a success.” May was said to have called for working on a trade deal simultaneously with talks on Britain’s exit, arguing that since Britain is already a member and merely wants to leave, a trade deal should be much easier to complete. Juncker somewhat theatrically dismissed the idea, reaching into his bag and pulling out two big stacks of paper: Croatia’s European Union entry deal and Canada’s free-trade pact, all 2,250 pages of it.

 

The two sides also differed on the question of how much Britain will have to pay as part of the “divorce settlement,” with May reportedly saying it owes nothing because there is no mention of such payments in the EU’s founding treaties. Juncker was said to have replied that without a payment there would be no trade deal.

 

Merkel was concerned enough to issue a strong statement to the Bundestag, the lower house of Parliament, on Thursday, saying that Britain can work out a new relationship with the EU only after it leaves.