UK Prime Minister Theresa May announced on Saturday 21 July that she and some members of her cabinet would be embarking on a round of European capitals in an effort to convince European partners of the merits of her proposals on future relations post-Brexit set out in the White Paper of 12 July. May will travel this week to Austria where she will meet Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, then she will move on to the Czech Republic and Estonia for meetings with Prime Ministers Andrej Babiš and Jüri Ratas.
David Lidington, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, will go to Paris and new Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt to Germany, The Guardian reveals. Home Secretary Sajid Javid will travel to Spain and Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Greg Clark will visit Italy. On 20 July, EU negotiator Michel Barnier expressed reservations over the White Paper (see EUROPE 12067) and announced that work would continue over the summer.
On Sunday 22 July, new Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab turned his attention to the financial arrangement agreed in the approach by both parties at the end of 2017 and once again made a link between payment of the Brexit bill and a deal on a future trade agreement. The United Kingdom will only pay the divorce bill with the EU if there is a trade agreement, he told the Sunday Telegraph.
The Commission declined to comment on Monday 23 July, referring to the political agreement on the withdrawal of the UK reached in December 2017. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)