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To clarify re backstop +Withdrawal Agreement: I did not:
1. say there is right now a change of attitude amongst the 27 EU leaders
2. say the EU is about to drop its metaphorical pants and is poised to renegotiate with next UK PM
Why am I not saying this? Because it’s not true /1
1. say there is right now a change of attitude amongst the 27 EU leaders
2. say the EU is about to drop its metaphorical pants and is poised to renegotiate with next UK PM
Why am I not saying this? Because it’s not true /1
What I am saying is: 1. EU leaders happy not to think much about #Brexit right now. End of extension -31 Oct- comfortably far away. They face more pressing issues.
2. I expect EU -incl Macron- to engage more in autumn + be more open then to further extension - if UK PM asks /2
2. I expect EU -incl Macron- to engage more in autumn + be more open then to further extension - if UK PM asks /2
NB I’m talking openness to new extension NOT to renegotiating backstop. What I did point out is EARLIER in negotiations I’m told there was more openness (not implying majority) to backstop end-date (though no one in EU likes idea) BUT member Ireland came first +that was that /3
Could the issue re-surface? Possibly. Nothing is over till it’s over BUT the only change in EU mood I detect is a slow, gradual hardening over time as the PM has made various promises in Brussels re getting withdrawal agreement passed -that she did not, could not keep /4
Remember one of those promises was: „Dear Brussels if you allow the backstop to be a UK-wide provision, (something major EU players eg France did NOT want)- not just for NI, then I’ll get the #Brexit deal passed through Parliament“.. Not exactly as it turned out /5
