The British Prime Minister, Theresa May, on Thursday urged the 27 other European leaders to agree on an EU withdrawal agreement she can “defend” in front of her countrymen in the UK. “The clear and urgent imperative to be as dynamic as you create allows us to move forward together,” she pleaded.
The British Prime Minister, Theresa May, on Thursday urged 27 other European leaders to agree on an EU withdrawal agreement for Brexit that she can “defend” in front of her countrymen in the UK.
“There is a growing feeling that we must work together to achieve a result that we can support and defend to our fellow citizens,” pleaded Theresa May at a dinner of the 28 European leaders meeting in summit in Brussels.
A senior British official stated that Theresa May stressed the importance of reaching an agreement for Brexit that “the British people perceived to be in the best interest of the United Kingdom. And as the European side.”
“A joint effort”
The Prime Minister also urged her counterparts for a “joint effort”, in pursuit of the dynamics that followed her speech in Florence (Italy) from September 22nd, a source in the British government, which reported her remarks.
It was on this occasion she advanced two proposals it sees as crucial for discussion: a commitment to pay 20 billion euros to settle accounts from the UK to the EU, and the establishment of a period of transition two years after the official date of Brexit, the 29th March, 2019.
“The clear and urgent imperative is to be as dynamic as you create allows us to move forward together” , argued Theresa May at the conclusion of the presentation of its own stock of progress made since the start in June of negotiations on the terms of divorce between the EU and the UK.
A transition period
The European Council President Donald Tusk already announced that he will recommend on Friday to the other 27 leaders, “started internal preparations for discussions” on the future relationship and a transition period after the official date of Brexit.
But despite the insistence of London, the Europeans will not agree to start discussing their future relationship, for lack of “sufficient progress” in the three priority issues: the right of citizens abroad, question of Ireland and its border, and account balances.
While British business community has stepped up warnings about the harmful effect of uncertainty garnered by Brexit, and the Conservative Party of Theresa May is divided, the Prime Minister finds herself under intense pressure to move forward.
“It is clear that she (Theresa May,) is working in a difficult political environment”, analyzed a senior British anonymously.
Four former Conservative ministers, including former finance minister Nigel Lawson, have urged Thursday to leave the table without an agreement if the EU continued to refuse to put the discussion to the next phase.