UK hits out at European Commission
after Brexit meeting leak
Report says Juncker ‘10 times more
sceptical’ after last week’s Downing Street dinner
UK Prime Minister Theresa May and European Commission
president Jean-Claude Juncker before their meeting at Downing Street on April
26 © Reuters
Frederick Studemann
38 MINUTES AGO by: Jim Pickard in London and Claire Jones in
Frankfurt
The British government has accused the European Commission
of seeking to “punish” the UK over Brexit after the leaked account of a private
dinner raised tensions between London and Brussels.
A report published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung
portrayed last Wednesday’s dinner between Theresa May, British prime minister,
and Jean-Claude Juncker, European Commission president, as a disaster.
The leak highlighted the gulf between what the UK wants and
what the EU considers realistic, but has also led politicians from across
Britain’s political spectrum to emphasise that talks may fail to yield a deal.
“Juncker wants money but also wants to punish us — and deter
any other member state from leaving,” a senior British government figure said.
“He has been told we are willing to walk away without a deal, which is worrying
him.”
The official described the leak as “very foolish” because it
was essential to conduct the Brexit talks in a spirit of trust. “That principle
has now been breached,” the official said.
According to the FAZ, commission officials were astonished
at Mrs May’s ambitions for the talks, including rapid resolution of the status
of expatriates, a confidential negotiating process and a trade deal within two
years.
The FAZ article quotes Mr Juncker as saying that he left the
dinner “10 times more sceptical than I was before”. The commission president
told Angela Merkel, German chancellor, of his concerns in an early-morning
phone call the next day.
Speaking during election campaigning, Mrs May dismissed the
account as “just Brussels gossip”, noting that immediately after the dinner the
commission had described the talks as “constructive”. But she added that the episode
showed that the talks would be “tough”.
The comprehensive leaking of Wednesday’s discussion will
also strengthen the hand of Eurosceptics in Mrs May’s own party who believe the
Brexit negotiations cannot succeed.
“This is the reason why some people are saying it will be
impossible to reach a deal, because it doesn’t matter which party is in the
wrong galaxy, if they are in separate galaxies it is going to be very
difficult,” said Bernard Jenkin, a leading Conservative Eurosceptic MP.
A spokesman for the UK Independence party said the account
of the EU’s attempt to “bully” the UK showed the “mutual incomprehension”
between the two sides. “We believe no deal is better than a bad deal, the
offers on the table are bad deals and so better that we go for a quick, clean
break and get on with our lives,” he said.
Pro-EU politicians also emphasised that Brexit might take
place without an agreement.
“By refusing to acknowledge the complexity and magnitude of
the task ahead the prime minister increases the risk that there will be no
deal, which is the worst of all possible outcomes,” said Keir Starmer, the
Brexit spokesman for the opposition Labour party.
Tim Farron, leader of the pro-EU Liberal Democrats, said the
FAZ report made clear the government had “no plan and no clue” for leaving the
bloc.
The leak has laid bare the obstacles facing Mrs May’s
ambition to hold the negotiations in secret: Mr Juncker has a duty to keep 27
member states informed of progress and details are bound to leak.
While the UK prime minister used the dinner to push for an
early deal to secure the rights of British workers across the continent,
according to the FAZ, Mr Juncker said this would involve highly complex
negotiations on topics such as health insurance.
British officials said such issues can be left to subsequent
bilateral negotiations with EU member states.
Mr Juncker and Michel Barnier, the chief EU negotiator who
was also present at the dinner, were astounded by the prime minister’s
assertion that the UK did not have to pay “a penny” of a Brexit divorce bill,
which the EU has estimated as up to €60bn, because there was nothing in the EU
treaty to say that it had to. Mr Juncker responded that without a financial
settlement there would be no UK-EU trade deal.
He also said, according to the FAZ: “Brexit cannot be a
success.”
Mrs May’s comments over dinner in Downing Street should also
be viewed as an opening shot in Brexit negotiations. Her view that a trade deal
can be wrapped up by late 2018 may be seen in Berlin as “an illusion” but it is
also an attempt to force the pace of talks.
Privately many of Mrs May’s ministers agree that the best
Britain can hope for is a broad outline of a future trade agreement, with
details to be filled in over a transition period lasting several years.
In a show of unity a weekend summit, the EU27 member states
agreed a tough opening stance on the talks.
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