This Theresa May op-ed in Welt deserves some scrutiny, particularly over what the UK means and what the EU Member States will hear... 1/ welt.de/debatte/kommen…
Starting with these two paragraphs - as has been pointed out before the EU believes we currently have the strongest possible economic relationship, and is unsure if the UK really does still stand for the global rules-based order 2/ 
An unequivocal commitment on Northern Ireland sounds good - but of course many in the EU say they are not proposing an East-West 'border' - which is of course where the argument is 3/
So Chequers is the UK's answer. But the problem is the EU has already rejected this as an alternate single market, and earlier in the article the PM says we must leave the SM. The arguments don't quite work here 4/
This doesn't add clarity. Is the UK asking for a Free Trade Agreement or something else. And what does that last sentence on services actually mean? I think the EU will be surprised to learn that. 5/
And what does this mean on services? Presumably supposed to refer to the commitments in areas like labour, but if we're following the same rules why aren't we in the Single Market? 6/
A better finish - on the need for movement on both sides. But overall the article could well just read to the EU as a UK floundering to define what we actually want, that could actually be available, within self-imposed red lines 7/ ends
