EU's Barnier: Draft Brexit deal is 'fair and balanced'

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The European Union's (EU) chief Brexit negotiator said on Monday the draft Brexit deal reached with London was "fair and balanced", as the bloc's members sparred between themselves and with Britain over any extension of the envisaged transition period.

Michel Barnier told a news conference after briefing the 27 national EU ministers that they generally approved of the draft divorce agreement reached last week, and that a blank in the document on the end-date for a possible extension of the status-quo transition period should be resolved before a summit on Sunday.

"We are in fact at a decisive moment in this process; no one should lose sight of the progress that has been achieved in Brussels and in London," Barnier said. "The deal is fair and balanced."

"In particular, member states support the draft withdrawal agreement. The EU side will still have to decide the internal process for agreeing to extend the transition period."

Barnier said any extension would only be a one-off and must be clearly limited in time. The view was echoed by the French minister attending the meeting, who said it was important to offer certainty to all those affected by Britain's withdrawal.

Officials from EU member countries meet prior to a foreign affairs council meeting on Brexit at the European Council, Brussels, Belgium, November 19, 2018. /VCG Photo

The UK would have to make appropriate contributions to EU coffers if it were to stay in the bloc's customs union and single market beyond the currently envisaged end of the transition period at the end of 2020, 21 months after Brexit, Barnier added.

Pledge to fight on

British Prime Minister Theresa May vowed on Monday to stick to her contentious draft EU divorce deal as dissenting lawmakers in her own party tried to trigger a leadership challenge.

Since striking a deal on Tuesday, May has faced the most perilous crisis of her premiership with several ministers - including her Brexit minister - resigning.

May has pledged to fight on, warning that toppling her risks delaying Britain's exit from the EU or leaving without a deal, a step that could thrust the world's fifth largest economy unto the unknown.

British Prime Minister Theresa May, delivers a speech to the CBI annual conference, London, UK, November 19, 2018. /VCG Photo

“We have in view a deal that will work for the UK and, let no one be in any doubt, I am determined to deliver it,” May said in a speech to Britain's premier business lobby, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), which drew loud applause. “We are not talking about political theory but the reality of people's lives and livelihoods.”

“While the world is changing fast, our geography is not: Europe will always be our most proximate goods market, and ensuring we have free-flowing borders is crucial,” May said, citing the importance of the automotive industry.

The EU is due to hold a summit to discuss the draft deal on November 25. Some Brexit-supporting ministers are reported to want to rewrite parts of it, though Germany has ruled this out.

Whether or not May wins an improved future partnership offer this week, she still has to get the withdrawal deal itself past parliament.

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Conservative hardliners and May's Northern Irish unionist allies have pledged to vote down the treaty despite the threat of a calamitous no-deal Brexit.

And the opposition Labour Party, scenting a chance to topple May's government, has also warned that its members will not support her deal.

'Painful' debates

European governments started to thrash out a plan for close ties with a post-Brexit Britain on Monday in the last week before they gather to sign their divorce papers.

Ministers from the other 27 EU members met in Brussels at the start of what British Prime Minister Theresa May calls "an intense week of negotiations" ahead of Sunday's summit.

"A painful week in European politics is starting," Austrian minister for Europe Gernot Blumel, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, told reporters.

"We have the divorce papers on the table. 45 years of difficult marriage are coming to an end."

A draft copy of the UK's withdrawal agreement from EU given to media, Brussels, Belgium, November 15, 2018. /VCG Photo

The British leader has said she will be in the city herself this week to see the president of the EU commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, for last-ditch talks.

(Top image: Michel Barnier, EU's chief Brexit negotiator, speaks during a news conference, Brussels, Belgium, November 14, 2018. /VCG Photo)

(Sources: AFP, Reuters)