Yahoo Finance Accepting May’s Brexit plan would be 'suicidal' for EU, says French minister
France’s finance minister has said the EU forcefully oppose Theresa May’s Brexit plans because they threaten the bloc’s very existence.
Bruno Le Maire said accepting the prime minister’s Chequers plan, which would allow the UK to benefit from the single market for goods without accepting free movement of people, would have been “suicidal.”
“If we give the idea that we can exit the European Union and keep all of the benefits of the single market then it is the end of Europe,” he told a group of journalists on Tuesday.
His comments come days after a major row over the Chequers plan at a summit of EU leaders in Salzburg.
The blunt way the prime minister’s proposals were rejected prompted her to make an unplanned TV broadcast in which she demanded the UK be showed “respect” in talks.
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Emmanuel Macron’s French government is said to be the main proponents of the EU’s uncompromising stance.
Explaining their position, Le Maire said: “The British made their choice, that’s fine. Excuse me to say so brutally, but there are more important things for us than the future of the United Kingdom – it’s the future of the European Union.”
And he added: “Any decision that gives European citizens the impression that you can leave the European Union and keep all the advantages would be suicidal.”
Senior MEP Danuta Hubner, a member of the European parliament’s Brexit steering group, said on Wednesday that May’s refusal to drop Chequers could lead to a “no-deal” scenario.
“It is frustrating to us that the UK has left the same unworkable arguments on the table for so long without changing them at all,” she wrote in an article for the Scottish Centre on European Relations.
“The risk is growing that the only option to avoid a no-deal scenario will be to have a rather hollow political declaration on the future EU-UK relationship, which will accompany the withdrawal agreement.
“This outcome would not be good for either side, since that might not be acceptable to the UK parliament when it comes to its ‘meaningful vote’, or indeed to the European parliament when it must accept or reject the withdrawal agreement.”
EU ambassadors are meeting in Brussels on Wednesday evening to prepare for this outcome.
They will discuss how they can make “mini-deals” with the UK to prevent aircraft being grounded and keep goods flowing in the event of no-deal, according to the Times.
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EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier will meet with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in Brussels on Thursday.
But Hubner said he needs to spend more time in face-to-face talks with Brexit secretary Dominic Raab in order to reach a deal.
“We have heard that the commission’s most recent conversation with UK Brexit secretary Dominic Raab was by phone instead of in person,” she said.
“Let us hope this is not a new trend for the remaining phase of the withdrawal negotiations …
“It has become clear that the remaining issues cannot be resolved by civil servants and officials – political engagement from the UK is needed.”
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