Brexit latest: Juncker refuses to reopen Brexit negotiations in ‘robust’ talks with May
Brexit cannot be renegotiated, insisted European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker today at a meeting with the Prime Minister described as “robust but constructive”.
However, UK and EU negotiators will continue to search for a path through parliament for Theresa May’s Brexit deal as they seek to save the agreement, the leaders said today.
Read more: UK house prices fall at the start of 2019
Juncker refused to countenance reopening talks around the Brexit deal, claiming it is a “carefully balanced compromise” between UK and EU interests.
But May argued that last week’s vote in parliament to replace the controversial so-called Irish backstop with “alternative arrangements” gave her a fresh mandate to demand changes.
The two sides will instead continue to talk on a possible route through parliament for the withdrawal agreement, which was voted down in December in a historic defeat for a government.
“Despite the challenges, the two leaders agreed that their teams should hold talks as to whether a way through can be found that would gain the broadest possible support in the UK parliament and respect the guidelines agreed by the European Council,” a statement issued on the leaders’ behalf today said.
“The Prime Minister and the president will meet again before the end of February to take stock of these discussions.”
Sterling fell steeply against the dollar by as much as 0.4 per cent this afternoon after the Bank of England cut growth forecasts for 2019.
The news comes after German chancellor Angela Merkel said earlier today that while the Brexit deal cannot be renegotiated, a solution may still be possible before the UK’s scheduled departure on 29 March.
Read more: Sterling plunges as Bank of England cuts UK growth forecasts
“Fifty days is not much, and 50 days is a lot, depending on how you view it,” she said ahead of a meeting with the leaders of Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, as reported by Reuters.
“We all have an interest – I see that with the British parliament and the British government, with Theresa May, but with us too – in achieving an orderly exit for Britain as that is better for all of us.”