The EU must now come up with an alternative to her Brexit proposals, British prime minister Theresa May has said.
The British PM said that talks had reached an impasse after the bloc’s leaders rejected her plans without explaining why. At a summit in Austria on Thursday, EU leaders said they would push for a Brexit deal next month but rejected May’s “Chequers” plan, saying she needs to give ground on trade and arrangements for the Border, The Times reported.
“It’s not acceptable to simply reject the other side’s proposals without a detailed explanation and counterproposals,” said May in a televised statement on Friday. “So we now need to hear from the EU what the real issues are, what their alternative is so that we can discuss them. Until we do, we cannot make progress.”
May said the Brexit negotiations were at an impasse. She also said the best outcome from the negotiations was for her country to leave the bloc with a deal but exiting with no deal would be better than a bad one.
European Council president Donald Tusk struck a conciliatory note in responding to May’s statement on Friday evening.
The EU fully respected the UK’s decision in the Brexit referendum two years ago and was focused on finding a deal that would minimize the damage resulting from Brexit. “Also important to us is to create the best possible relations between the EU and the UK in the future.”
While some of May’s proposals from Chequers indicated a “positive evolution” in the UK’s approach, on the Irish question and the rules of economic cooperation, they will need to be “reworked and further negotiated”
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