According to reporting by The UK Telegraph, EU leaders in Brussels run the risk of violating its own laws if it refuses to make any compromises in Brexit negotiations, as warned by ministers involved in the trade negotiations.
Key quotes
“Senior Whitehall sources said last night that if the UK crashes out of Europe without a deal “we will make it clear whose fault it was”. The EU “keeps stalling” and bringing the prospect of no deal ever closer, they say, even though the Lisbon Treaty requires it to do everything it can to find a workable arrangement with Britain.
Meanwhile David Davis, the former Brexit Secretary, warned Brussels it will be making a “massive miscalculation” if it thinks Britain is not ready to walk away without a deal. It came after Liam Fox, the International Trade Secretary, said a no deal Brexit was now a “60-40″ probability because of the “intransigence” of the European Commission.
Dr Fox said the “theological obsession of the unelected” in Brussels was standing in the way of a deal being agreed because it was taking “priority over the economic wellbeing of the people of Europe”. Downing Street insisted that Theresa May was still “confident” of getting a good deal,but there was no attempt to rebuke Dr Fox for his comments.
A senior Whitehall source said: “We have made an offer that some people think is on the generous side and the EU has to know we are not kidding. “If they don’t like our offer they need to come back and say what the alternative is, but they can’t just keep stalling. “They also need to accept that we’ve done nothing wrong. We left under the terms of the Lisbon Treaty, which says they have obligations to help us.
David Davis said: “The Lisbon Treaty requires them to come up with a workable arrangement and that’s certainly not the description of their behaviour at the moment.” He told The Daily Telegraph there was a danger of a no deal Brexit happening because of a “misjudgement” by the EU that the UK Parliament will do anything to secure a deal, reminding his former opposite number Michel Barnier that EU member states have more to lose from a no deal Brexit than the UK.”
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