EU delivers blow to May’s ambitions for Brexit accord

The EU says that only a basic free trade agreement will be possible for the United Kingdom, as long as Prime Minister May’s government maintains its red lines on exit from the single market and the customs union, report many European media outlets. President Tusk delivered a blow to Prime Minister May’s Brexit agreement ambitions. He said “frictionless” trade would be impossible if the UK decided to leave the single market and customs union. He added that the free trade deal between both parties would be “the first free trade deal in history which weakens economic relations instead of strengthening them.”

President Tusk added that no Member State is free to pick only the sectors of the single market it likes, nor to accept the role of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) only when it suits their interest. Similarly, a pick-and-mix approach for a non-Member State is out of the question. This “pick and mix” would result in a lot of bureaucracy and will have costs, comments Carsten Volkery in Handelsblatt. President Tusk presented a document that highlights that Britain’s withdrawal from the EU will affect the relations between the two sides in the future as its insistence on leaving the single market and the customs union “limits the depth of a future partnership”. President Tusk warned that the EU will not grant “Norway rights with Canada obligations” to the UK.

Meanwhile, Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond argued on Wednesday that the UK’s financial industry needs access to the EU, even without the UK adhering to EU legislation, Børsen reports. According to Die Presse, an unnamed high-ranking EU official explains that after 60 years of a customs union and 43 years of the single market, an “ecosystem” of European law and supervision by the European Court of Justice has grown, from which it is not possible to simply pick and choose what one likes. Carsten Volkery comments that the costs for a tailor-made Brexit trade agreement would be high, but they would be even higher if there were no trade agreement. Prime Minister May favours a trade agreement that allows British companies differing accesses to the European single market.

Stefanie Bolzen argues in Die Welt that the UK is heading towards a hard Brexit as Prime Minister May neither showed courage nor political vision in the 19 months since she took office. But “Trade between the UK and the EU will become more expensive and more complicated. That is the essence of Brexit,” explains Euroclear CEO Lieve Mostrey in an interview with De Tijd. British Eurosceptic dailies such as the Daily Mail describe Donald Tusk’s Brexit interventions yesterday as “another burst of sneering provocation from the self-serving bureaucrats of Brussels”. Also, the Sun writes that Michel Barnier and President Tusk continue to put the “sanctity of the EU and its institutions” above the citizens and economies of Europe. However, Jenni Russell argues in an editorial in The Times that the British people need to be given another vote on the outcome of Brexit negotiations because Brexit was sold on three promises that were lies: the EU would give Britain a uniquely advantageous deal; the rest of the world would be eager to sign great new deals; Britain would be a stronger presence on the world stage. She suggests the second vote should offer three options: the deal agreed by the government; no deal; remaining in the EU.

President Tusk will carry out a tour of European capitals to discuss Brexit guidelines ahead of the 22 March European Council. The Irish border issue continues to draw Irish and Lithuanian media outlets’ attention. The European Parliament will vote next week on another motion to protect the Good Friday Agreement and the rights of people in Northern Ireland, they report, adding that the DUP has rejected the “unacceptable” EU plans for the Irish border after talks with Chief Brexit Negotiator Michel Barnier.