UK Edition
EU to offer UK a 'supercharged' free trade Brexit deal next week
The EU is preparing to offer Theresa May a “supercharged” free trade deal but will reject Mrs May’s demands for frictionless trade, it has emerged.
The offer from Brussels, which will be put to British negotiators on Wednesday, is said to contain “30 to 40 per cent” of the demands made in Mrs May’s Chequers proposal.
Ireland’s Europe Minister suggested on Friday that a deal could be done “in the next 10 days”.
However, Government sources made it clear Mrs May will not be “pressured” into softening her Brexit red lines, and in particular will not allow a customs border in the Irish Sea.
One Whitehall source accused Brussels of “gamesmanship” after EU diplomatic sources said a deal was “very close”, suggesting the EU was putting out positive language so it could blame Britain if no deal could be done.
Sources in Brussels suggested the deal offered to Mrs May would be tariff-free but would not allow completely frictionless trade, because that would undermine the integrity of the single market. Instead it would describe the arrangement as being “as frictionless as possible”.
In return the EU will demand stronger “level playing field” conditions to ensure the UK does not gain a competitive advantage in areas such as regulatory standards, employment law and state aid.
The draft agreement on trade could be fewer than 10 pages long, with full details to be thrashed out during the 21-month transition period, according to sources in Brussels.
The deal appears to be dependent on Mrs May accepting different customs arrangements in Northern Ireland and mainland Britain, which she has been clear she will not accept.
Helen McEntee, Ireland’s Europe Minister, raised hopes of a deal being close by saying: “I think in the next 10 days if there is a proposal, obviously on its own it won't resolve the border issue, but certainty if something is legally sound and workable, I do believe that the (EU's Brexit) taskforce will work with Prime Minister May."
She added: "I do think that the Prime Minister wants to reach an agreement because I think this is the best outcome for all of us. I think a cliff-edge or a no-deal scenario is something we shouldn't even contemplate.
"We have 10 days between the teams to negotiate and we have seen what has happened in a short space of time previously. I think where the will is there it can be done, and I do believe the will is there."
The development comes as Jean Claude-Juncker, the European Commission president, insisted the chance of agreeing a deal had grown in recent days.
Juncker said: “I think we need to refrain from this scenario of a no-deal. That would not be good for the UK as it is [not] for the rest of the union.
“I assume that we find an agreement as to the terms of the withdrawal. We also need to agree on a political statement that accompanies this withdrawal agreement. We are not that far yet.
“But our will is unbroken to reach agreement with the British government. It must be remembered time and again that Britain is leaving the union, not the European Union from the UK.
He added: “I have reason to think that the rapprochement potential between both sides has increased in recent days. But it can not be foreseen whether we will finish in October. If not, we’ll do it in November.”
Juncker declined to say whether he believed that Brexit might yet be avoided. “That is not a question that concerns the commission or the union as such," he added. "That is in the discretion of the British parliament and the government. I do not interfere in inner-cabinet debates in the UK. There is enough confusion.”
Mrs May will travel to Brussels on Oct 18 for a crunch meeting with the other 27 EU leaders to decide if a Brexit deal can be done.
Olly Robbins, Mrs May’s chief negotiator, will be involved in lengthy talks before then, with British sources suggesting the route to a deal may become clear by the end of next week.
Mr Tusk, the President of the European Council, said on Thursday that the EU was ready to offer the UK a “Canada plus plus plus” trade deal, but the offer would also mean a customs border in the Irish Sea, which is a red line for Mrs May.
A senior Whitehall source told The Telegraph: “This is gamesmanship by the EU. Britain’s position has not moved at all, and the EU will need to compromise if a deal is to be done.
“They are trying to put pressure on us but we have been clear that we will not accept a border in the Irish Sea.”