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EU steps up planning for no-deal Brexit
BRUSSELS, Dec 14, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – EU leaders agreed Thursday to step up
preparations for Britain crashing out of the bloc next March without a deal,
with the European Commission to publish a plan next week.
At a summit in Brussels, the leaders of the 27 EU member states called for
work on “contingency preparedness” — Brussels jargon for no-deal planning —
to be intensified.
Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said he would publish no-deal
planning details on December 19, urging Britain to clarify what it wants from
the EU.
“Because we are in a debate that is sometimes nebulous and imprecise, I
would like some clarifications,” Juncker said after summit talks.
“As we don’t know what the collective reactions will be — of the 27 or of
the UK — the commission will publish on December 19 all the information that
is generally useful for the preparation of no deal”.
British Prime Minister Theresa May had come to Brussels hoping for
concessions that would help her sell her Brexit deal to sceptical MPs back
home.
But the summit statement on Brexit gave her meagre pickings, insisting
bluntly that the withdrawal agreement struck last month after lengthy
negotiations “is not open for renegotiation”.
The final five-point statement issued after talks among the EU 27 that
followed a question-and-answer session with May offered the British PM
considerably less than earlier drafts.
Gone are a reassurance that the so-called Irish backstop — a Brexiteer
bugbear — will be in place for only a short period and a pledge to “examine
whether any further assurance can be provided” to help May get the deal
through parliament.
BSS/AFP/MRI/0823 hrs