Theresa May’s cabinet is final block to a Brexit deal, EU governments warn

EU member states have warned that a Brexit deal hinges on agreement in Theresa May’s cabinet, as they gathered in Brussels on Monday to be updated on the latest news in talks.

Belgian foreign minister Didier Reynders told reporters outside the council meeting the EU was “waiting for new news from London”, adding: “We have time, but not so much.”

France’s EU affairs minister, Nathalie Loiseau echoed the sentiment, telling reporters on the way into the gathering: “The ball is in the British court. It is a question of a British political decision.”

Downing Street last week said the cabinet needed more time to come to an agreement despite a long meeting last week. But an emergency session called for today to discuss the deal has been cancelled, suggesting a common UK government position is still some way off.

Asked about whether a deal would be struck, Ms Loiseau added: “I have no crystal ball unfortunately. We are determined, we are committed to find a good deal. We know that it is better than a no-deal.”

Speaking on his way into the same meeting Germany’s EU affairs minister Michael Roth warned that “the clock is ticking”.

“The room for manoeuvre is very much limited and our British friends know exactly where our discussions are,” he said.

Austrian EU affairs minister Gernot Blumel told waiting press there was “a certain dynamic in the negotiations, but it is too early to say how we are going to proceed on that”.

Austria holds the EU council’s rotating presidency and has been coordinating meetings between member states and the Europe Commission.

Though member states are regularly updated on progress, they are not present at the coal-face of talks with Britain and rely on the commission for information.

Member states were updated by commission chief negotiator Michel Barnier in Monday’s meeting about the current state of talks, with the prognosis understood to be that there has been no breakthrough.

In a statement the council presidency said: “The commission’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, informed the EU27 ministers of the situation following negotiations with the UK over the last few weeks.

“Michel Barnier explained that intense negotiating efforts continue, but an agreement has not been reached yet. Some key issues remain under discussion, in particular a solution to avoid a hard border between Ireland and Northern Ireland.”

Both sides want a deal in November, with the original October deadline having slipped. The EU has repeatedly said December will be too late to ratify the deal before the UK is set to drop out of the bloc on 29 March 2019.

Disagreements in negotiations are centred on the issue of Northern Ireland, and how to prevent a hard border from appearing with the Republic of Ireland after Brexit. Though officials are in a communications “tunnel” and reliable information is hard to come by, the EU appears to have agreed to British demands to keep the whole UK inside a temporary customs union to help prevent a hard border.

This UK demand was borne of an unwillingness to see just Northern Ireland kept inside the trade agreement, an approach the Northern Irish unionists who prop up Theresa May’s government have rejected outright as a breach of sovereignty.

But Brexiteers in the British cabinet are worried that such a “temporary” customs union might become permanent if no other solution to the border is found.

The UK has therefore also asked for some kind of review mechanism or time-limit to assuage the Tory ministers – a demand that is proving difficult to square with the EU’s insistence that the backstop must prevent a hard border in Northern Ireland whatever the circumstances. The UK government also signed up to this commitment in writing in December and March.

EU officials also want the UK to sign up to a series of “level playingfield” conditions – such as maintaining workers’ rights and environmental standards – if they want to stay inside the customs union, so that EU businesses cannot be undercut by laissez faire practices. These, too, are controversial in the Cabinet, because some right-wing MPs see Brexit as an opportunity to strip out regulations.

It is unclear whether the proposed UK-wide backstop would even placate Northern Irish unionists, as it would be unlikely to eliminate all regulatory checks across the Irish sea, notable on animal products. The DUP has said they would not accept such checks and vote against any deal that included them.

Even if a deal is struck between negotiators it could be voted down by MPs, with the House of Commons maths currently the matter of intense speculation in both Westminster and Brussels.