The European Commission has linked the opening of negotiations leading to the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union with approval of the mid-term review of the multiannual financial framework (MFF).
At the summit of the 27 member states on Saturday 29 April devoted to Brexit (see EUROPE 11778), Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker established a clear link between the opening of negotiations with the UK, in theory scheduled after the country’s general election on 8 June, and the removal of the UK’s current reservation on the review of the 2014-2020 MFF, confirmed European Commission spokesperson Margaritis Schinas on Tuesday 2 May.
At the request of the United Kingdom, because of the snap general election called for 8 June, the General Affairs Council of Tuesday 25 April did not, as initially planned, adopt the regulation on the mid-term review of the 2014-2020 MFF (see EUROPE 11774).
On Wednesday 3 May, chief EU negotiator Michel Barnier will unveil the European Commission’s negotiating directives on Brexit deriving from the guidelines adopted by the 27 member states on Saturday.
“Constructive” dinner discussion between May and Juncker. The Commission refused to confirm on Tuesday the claims that appeared in the press over the weekend that the recent Downing Street dinner hosted by UK Prime Minister Theresa May for Juncker to discuss Brexit had turned into a “disaster”.
According to German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, things did not go well between the two leaders given the EU’s refusal to begin talks on the UK’s future trade relations in parallel with divorce talks. Juncker is said to have indicated that he was ten times more sceptical after the dinner of reaching agreement with the UK government. EU negotiators also apparently felt that May was being far too optimistic about the talks.
According to the press articles, Juncker called German Chancellor Angela Merkel the next morning to tell her that May was deluding herself about the negotiations. In the Bundestag on Thursday morning, Merkel appealed directly to the UK not to harbour any illusions on the talks (see EUROPE 11776).
When asked about what May described as “Brussels gossip”, Schinas reminded journalists of the brief account given to the press on Thursday 27 April which stated that there had been a constructive conversation and that the atmosphere had been friendly. On Saturday 29 April, Juncker himself said that virtually everything had gone well but that he felt nonetheless that the British side was underestimating the technical difficulties of the negotiations. (Original version In French by Solenn Paulic)