Donald Tusk: Theresa May’s Brexit trade plan won’t work

Theresa May’s proposed new economic partnership with the EU “will not work”, the head of the European Council has said.

Donald Tusk said the plans risked undermining the EU’s single market.

He was speaking at the end of an EU summit in Salzburg where leaders of the 27 remaining member states discussed Brexit.

Mrs May said her proposals were the “only serious credible” way to avoid a hard border in the Northern Ireland.

Responding to Mr Tusk’s remarks, she said: “Yes, concerns have been raised and I want to know what those concerns are.”

There was “a lot of hard work to be done”, she said, but added that the UK was also preparing for having to leave without a deal.

Mrs May reiterated that she would not accept the EU’s “backstop” plan to avoid a hard border in Northern Ireland, and said the UK would shortly be bringing forward its own proposals.

The UK is due to leave the EU on 29 March 2019, and both sides are trying to reach a deal in time.

There is still no agreement on issues including how to avoid new checks on the Northern Ireland-Republic of Ireland border.

At a press conference, Mr Tusk said there were some “positive elements” in the UK’s blueprint for future relations with the EU, which was agreed by ministers at Chequers in July.

But, he added: “The suggested framework for economic cooperation will not work.”

Mr Tusk added that October would be the “moment of truth” for reaching a deal, and that “if the conditions are there” an additional summit would be held in November to “formalise” it.

Analysis by BBC political editor Laura Kuenssberg

Can the prime minister really cling on to her Chequers plan now?

The EU clearly won’t accept it as it stands. Significant chunks of her party won’t wear the deal either. The opposition parties won’t back her.

Of course there are tactics at play here. One government minister has already suggested that the EU always knows how to overplay their hand.

Sometimes in negotiations, there needs to be a crisis to focus minds.

And in her press conference, Theresa May seemed frustrated that her proposals perhaps have not been properly digested or considered yet.

Of course this is only one day, one set of fraught meetings, in a tangled and lengthy process.

But as things stand, it seems Theresa May is going to have to budge, or walk away.

The EU leaders had been discussing the UK’s plans, which were presented to them by Mrs May on Wednesday evening.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said “substantial progress” was needed on the UK’s withdrawal agreement by the next European Council meeting in October, with “still a large piece of work” on the separate issue of future trade relations with the UK.

The 27 remaining EU members were “united that, in the matter of the single market, there can be no compromises,” she said.

‘Time short’ warnings

Earlier Mrs May held talks with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, who said “time is running short” to reach a deal.

Luxembourg’s Prime Minister Xavier Bettel also said time was “getting short”, adding: “We both need to find a compromise.”

The Netherlands’ Mark Rutte warned of a failure to reach agreement, saying: “As long as there is no deal, there is the risk of ‘no-deal’.”

As he arrived at the summit, French President Emmanuel Macron stressed the EU’s “very clear principles” about preserving the “integrity” of its single market, something that Mr Muscat described as a “big fat red line”.

BBC