EUROPEAN leaders have warned Theresa May her crunch Brexit speech did not do enough to break the deadlock between the UK and Brussels.
Downing Street had hoped the keynote address would end the ongoing stalemate, with fresh talks between Brexit Secretary David Davis and EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier due to resume tomorrow (MON).
But French President Emmanuel Macron said that the Prime Minister failed to give enough clarity on the deal she wants to strike with the EU.
And a key ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel blamed Conservative infighting for a lack of detail ahead of the party’s conference in Manchester.
Mrs May set out her offer in Florence on Friday to continue paying into EU coffers for a two-year transition period after the UK leaves in 2019, during which EU nationals would remain free to settle in Britain.
Theresa May lays out plans for two-year Brexit transition in Florence speech
Mr Macron said more progress was needed on EU citizens’ rights, the border with Ireland and how much the UK will pay to leave the EU, the so-called “divorce settlement”.
He added: “If those three points are not clarified, then we cannot move forward on the rest.”
Senior Conservative backbencher Bernard Jenkin said the French President was being unreasonable in demanding such detail at this stage of the negotiations.
Elmar Brok, a member of the European Parliament’s Brexit committee who is close to Mrs Merkel, told the Sunday Post there would be “no significant breakthrough” because of Mrs May’s speech.
He added: “We have not reached with this speech he level we needed for the second round of talks. I believe decisive steps will not happen before the Conservative Party conference.”
Former Edinburgh University student Mr Brok, who met First Minister Nicola Sturgeon earlier this year, also said he has a “lot of sympathy” for the Scottish Government’s attempts to influence the UK into a deal that would keep the UK in the European single market.
Scottish Brexit Minister Michael Russell and Deputy First Minister John Swinney will meet the UK First Secretary of State Damian Green and Scottish Secretary David Mundell tomorrow.
Mr Russell has demanded Conservative ministers “urgently stop any power grab” and devolve new Brexit powers to Holyrood rather than Westminster.
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