New blow to Theresa May as EU leaders demand scrutiny of Brexit deal

Theresa May has been dealt a blow in the Brexit negotiations by EU leaders ahead of a crunch week during which the Brexit secretary, Dominic Raab, had been expected to visit Brussels to unveil the negotiated agreement.

Ambassadors for the EU27, including France and Germany, told the European commission that they would need to scrutinise any deal reached with the British before it was made public and a special summit called.

The EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, has largely been given free rein until now. An “optimistic” timetable would have seen Raab arrive on Tuesday to present the legal text agreed between the commission and the British government.

But during a two-hour meeting with the EU’s deputy chief negotiator, Sabine Weyand, the member states’ representatives insisted they would not be steamrollered into accepting the agreement secured between the two negotiating teams.

They told the commission they would need the best part of a week to go through the text should there be an agreement in a sign of the growing nervousness over the prospect of giving away an all-UK customs union in the withdrawal agreement.

The development makes it less likely that a November Brexit summit could be convened. EU officials have privately said that 25 November is the last possible date for a summit, and that it would need to be called early next week to allow preparations in EU capitals. May’s chief Brexit adviser, Olly Robbins, is expected to visit Brussels on Sunday given the lack of time to find agreement.

For the withdrawal agreement to be agreed by the EU27, it will need to contain commitments that a hard border on the island of Ireland will never be required. The EU has suggested that Northern Ireland could in effect stay in the single market and customs union. The prime minister has said she could not sign up to such a “dislocation” of the UK and is insisting on the whole of the country staying in a temporary customs union. Brussels is placing a high price on such a concession, including so-called “level playing field” commitments to ensure the British do not gain any unforeseen competitive advantages.

Frustration has been growing at the manner in which the commission has engaged in the talks with the UK. It has taken them into “the tunnel”, a period of private discussions in which consultation with the member states has been limited.

There is particular concern about giving away a customs union to the UK without sufficient commitments that the UK will sign up to EU labour, environmental and social standards, and open up their seas and fishing stocks to European fleets.

A senior EU diplomat said: “The member states insisted that they cannot be in the dark on this, it is just too important.”

One senior diplomat added that “we are far away from a high fives moment”, following the briefing from the commission.

“The UK needs to go back to London, get a clear mandate and start talking again in Brussels”, one EU diplomat said. “There are levels of fluid. Things are fluid between the commission and the UK, and then things are fluid in London.”

The European Commission, meanwhile, is expected to ramp up its no-deal plans in the coming days, given the growing volatility in Westminster. It will also publish legislation on exempting UK nationals from its visa requirements as a third country. - The Guardian