Yahoo Finance EU’s Juncker confident Brexit deal ‘will be done’ despite delay
EU chief Jean-Claude Juncker has predicted a Brexit deal “will be done” despite recent set-backs but said an extension of the UK’s Brexit transition period “probably will happen”.
The European Commission president said he was “convinced” negotiations would be successful following an EU leaders’ summit that was dominated by Brexit.
He said: “My working assumption is not that we will have a no-deal. A no-deal would be dangerous for Britain and the European Union.
“Instead of describing the differences and divergences we have we have to concentrate on and to focus on the large number of agreements we have. We’ll add to these large number of agreements the two, three missing elements. It will be done.”
His upbeat assessment was shared by European Council president Donald Tusk, who had warned before the summit that an impasse over the Irish border issue had left both sides “closer than ever” to a no-deal scenario.
“We are in a much better mood than after Salzburg,” said Tusk in reference to a summit last month which ended in a bust-up between him and the prime minister over the Chequers plan.
Tusk said he felt talks were “closer” to a conclusion than before the summit, but said that was “maybe an emotional impression rather than rational one.”
“But, as you know, emotions matter,” he added. That comment summed-up this summit.
Everyone on the EU side made an effort to sound positive in public about negotiations in order to avoid a repeat of the kind of diplomatic breakdown that followed Salzburg amid fears it could spark a no-deal.
German chancellor Angela Merkel revealed EU leaders avoided talking about no-deal preparations because they “didn’t want to give the impression that we were dealing with this primarily.”
“Rather our main emphasis was trying to work out how to achieve an exit deal and a solution to our future relationship with the UK,” she said, adding: “Where there is a will there should be a way.”
They pointed to better body language or mood music around talks, but there were no concrete results to match.
It was meant to be the meeting at which a Brexit deal was signed-off. In the end, leaders decided that there wasn’t even sufficient progress to expect a deal by the middle of next month.
The lack of substance to discuss meant leaders even had enough time to head to the pub afterwards.
Merkel and Macron were spotted having a drink in Brussel’s Grand Place with the prime minister of Belgium, Charles Michel, and the prime minister of Luxembourg, Xavier Bettel.
#onokad završi #EUCO a Merkel, Macron & co sjednu medju turiste u 23:00 na Grand-Place u centru Brisela i popiju pivo.
Jedino pitanje je – a gdje je @AndrejPlenkovic? 🙂 #n1info pic.twitter.com/ONNnjDwd2I
— Hrvoje Kresic (@hkresic) October 17, 2018
Tusk said on Thursday he “stands ready” to convene an emergency meeting to approve a deal, but concluded: “For now, not enough progress has been made.”
It is now likely a deal will have to wait until the next normal European Council on 13 December.
May also frustrated her EU counterparts by failing to bring forward new proposals to overcome the Irish border impasse during her 15 minute speech to them on Wednesday evening.
Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar gave a frank assessment of talks, saying: “A lot of things have been agreed but there are still big gaps.”
French president Emmanuel Macron added: “It’s now very clearly up to the British prime minister and her staff to come back with a solution based on the necessary political compromise on the UK side.”
The only new idea discussed was an extension to the transition period, which May has now admitted that she is willing to discuss despite opposition from within her Cabinet.
MORE: Theresa May admits longer Brexit transition is possible
Juncker said the extension, which would give negotiators more time to find a trade deal that would render the Irish border ‘backstop’ academic, “will probably happen.”
“It’s not the best idea the two of us have had but I think this is giving us some room to prepare the future relation in the best way possible,” he said.
Tusk said EU leaders would be “ready to consider it positively”, suggesting May would have to make a formal request to extend the transition – something that would prove controversial with her party.
It is estimated that a one year extension to the transition period, during which time the UK would remain part of the EU’s single market and customs union, would cost £8bn.
MORE: Nightmare before Christmas – Brexit deal may not be ready until December
