Theresa May urged the EU to ‘move forward’ in Brexit negotiations today – as she faced a warning from Donald Tusk that starting trade talks before Christmas is ‘not a given’.
The European council president will deliver a tough message when he meets the Prime Minister on the fringes of a summit in Sweden later.
As Brussels ramps up pressure over the huge divorce bill, Mr Tusk will caution that sign-off on trade talks when EU leaders gather next month cannot be taken for granted.
The thinly-veiled threat come amid signs of a bitter row within government over how far to bow to Brussels’ demands for more cash.
Mrs May has already pledged to pay £20billion into EU coffers during a two-year transition period. But Cabinet Brexiteers Boris Johnson and Michael Gove are said to be resisting upping the offer without commitments from Brussels over a trade deal.
Brexit Secretary David Davis said today that so far the UK was making most of the ‘compromises’ and European countries had to do their part.
Theresa May urged the EU to ‘move forward’ in Brexit negotiations as she arrived at a summit in Sweden today
Hungarian PM Viktor Orban (left) and French President Emmanuel Macron were also attending the meeting today along with Mrs May
Theresa May, pictured speaking to Swedish counterpart Stefan Lofven last night, has already pledged to pay £20billion into EU coffers during a two-year transition period
European council president Donald Tusk (pictured with Mrs May at No10 in September) will deliver a tough message when he meets the PM in Sweden later
Arriving at a summit in Gothenburg this morning, Mrs May said she hoped the European Union would respond ‘positively’ to her approach to Brexit.
She repeated her promise that the UK will ‘honour our commitments’ amid speculation she is prepared to increase the amount she is prepared to pay in the divorce settlement with the EU.
‘We look forward to the December European Council. We are continuing to look through the issues,’ she told reporters.
‘I was clear in my speech in Florence that we will honour our commitments.
‘But of course we want to move forward together, talking about the trade issues and trade partnership for the future.
‘I have set out a vision for that economic partnership, I look forward to the European Union responding positively to that so we can move forward together and ensure that we can get the best possible arrangements for the future that will be good for people in the United Kingdom and across the remaining EU27.’
But a Brussels source said: ‘Mr Tusk will inform Mrs May that such a positive scenario is not a given, it will require more work and that time is short. ‘And he will ask Mrs May how the UK plans to progress on the three key issues for phase one.’
The three issues where ‘sufficient progress’ must be made include the financial settlement, citizens’ rights and the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland.
Speaking to the BBC in Berlin this morning, Mr Davis insisted many EU countries ‘want to move on’.
‘They see it as very important to them. Countries like Denmark, countries like Holland, countries like Italy and Spain, countries like Poland can see the big, big benefits in the future deal we are talking about.
‘They have all got things to benefit from that. This is not a one-way street, this is not something for nothing, this is something that benefits everybody.’
But Mr Varadkar again sounded a hard line, suggesting that the UK had not ‘thought through’ the difficulties Brexit would cause.
‘I think it’s certainly possible that we can come to conclusions in December allowing phase two talks to begin, but if we have to wait until the New Year, if we have to wait for further concessions, so be it,’ the Taoiseach told reporters.
‘But I think it would be in all of our interests that we proceed to phase two if we can in December.
‘It’s 18 months since the referendum, it’s 10 years since people who wanted a referendum started agitating for one.
‘Sometimes it doesn’t seem like they have thought all this through.’
He added: ‘Britain having unilaterally taken the customs union and single market off the table, before we move to phase two talks on trade we want taken off the table any suggestion that there will be a physical border, a hard border, new barriers to trade on the island of Ireland.’
The PM held talks with Swedish counterpart Stefan Lofven last night.
Brexit Secretary David Davis, pictured in Berlin last night, said today that so far the UK was making most of the ‘compromises’ and European countries had to do their part
He said the UK needs to clarify what the financial settlement would cover, and it was ‘very difficult to say’ whether trade talks would be given the go-ahead in December.
If leaders do not agree to move to the second phase at the summit in Brussels on December 14-15, the next opportunity for progress will not be until the European Council meets again in March.
That would add to business uncertainty and increase the potential for the UK to leave without a Brexit deal.
The Gothenburg social summit brings together political leaders and other key players to discuss a new European Pillar of Social Rights for workers’ rights.
Mrs May will take part in a working session on fair employment and working conditions and is expected to highlight the findings of the Taylor report published in July which examined the treatment of workers in the so-called gig economy.