BRUSSELS • European Union leader Jean-Claude Juncker and British Prime Minister Theresa May agreed yesterday to hold further talks on Britain's withdrawal from the bloc, after what they described as a "robust" meeting.
The EU's Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier will meet Britain's Brexit Minister Stephen Barclay next Monday in Strasbourg, France, and Mrs May and Mr Juncker themselves will meet again before the end of this month, said a spokesman.
In a joint statement issued after Mrs May met Mr Juncker at the EU headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, the pair confirmed that Mr Juncker, who is European Commission president, had warned the British Premier that the Brexit withdrawal deal cannot be renegotiated.
But he "expressed his openness to add wording" to a parallel political declaration laying out ambitions for future EU-British ties if London wants to seek a "more ambitious" closer relationship after Brexit.
But Mrs May urged that the withdrawal agreement itself be changed, and reminded Mr Juncker that the British Parliament had mandated her to seek "a legally binding change to the terms of the backstop". This is a clause in the withdrawal agreement, signed last November, that would keep Britain in the EU Customs union even after a post-Brexit transition period if no way is found to keep the Irish border open.
"The discussion was robust but constructive," the joint statement said. "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."
If no agreement is reached on the withdrawal deal, which has yet to be approved by either the British Parliament or the European Parliament, Britain will crash out of the union with no follow-on trade arrangements on March 29.
Expectations for Mrs May's visit were already modest when, on Wednesday, European Council president Donald Tusk and Mr Juncker torched her prospects of winning changes to the withdrawal agreement.
Mr Juncker told reporters that Mrs May already knew and accepted that the EU would not reopen talks on the deal.
And Mr Tusk, who represents EU member governments as head of the European Council, triggered outrage across the Channel by damning pro-Brexit politicians for, in his view, recklessly failing to plan.
"I've been wondering what that special place in hell looks like, for those who promoted Brexit without even a sketch of a plan on how to carry it out safely," he said.
According to talking points provided by Downing Street ahead of the visit, Mrs May was to admit that securing changes would not be easy. But she was to add: "Last week, Parliament made clear that for the first time it could support the withdrawal agreement, subject to changes to the backstop. The government now wants urgently to work with the EU to secure such changes. The EU shares the UK's commitment to leave with a deal. We must show determination and do what it takes to now get the deal over the line."
Mrs May has exasperated EU leaders by repeatedly coming to Brussels without detailed proposals to solve the Brexit deadlock.
The British Premier will have dinner with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar in Dublin today. Mr Varadkar, whose government has stressed the importance of maintaining an open border between Ireland and Northern Ireland after Brexit, said that recent "instability in British politics" showed why a backstop was essential.
On Wednesday, Mrs May discussed the issue with Northern Irish leaders in the British province.
Last month, the House of Commons overwhelmingly rejected the Brexit deal that she had negotiated with the EU after 18 months of painstaking diplomacy.
She is now looking into changes to satisfy her MPs, who fear the backstop would keep Britain indefinitely tied to EU rules, with even closer alignment for Northern Ireland.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
