Theresa May to travel to Brussels to finalise Brexit deal
Theresa May is to travel to Brussels on Wednesday evening to finalise the Brexit deal in a meeting with the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker “as part of the ongoing negotiations over the future framework”, Downing Street has said, according to The Guardian.
Downing Street and the commission have a deal in principle on the withdrawal agreement concerning citizens’ rights, the £39bn divorce bill and the Irish border problem. Negotiations continue over a separate document about the future relationship.
May’s trip comes as the recent pressure on her position slightly eases, with speculation about an imminent leadership challenge fading as Brexiter rebels failed to amass the 48 letters of no confidence from Conservative MPs needed to trigger a challenge.
The full text of a Brexit political declaration in future EU-UK relations was meant to be published on Tuesday, but the timing is now up in the air. The European commission’s chief spokesman declined to say whether the document would appear before or after May’s meeting with Juncker.
“The aim of the meeting is to prepare Sunday’s European council article 50 format [EU 27 leaders] and to ensure that we are in a position again, I repeat, to endorse the draft withdrawal agreement and approve the political declaration of the framework of the future relationship,” he said. “This is not a dinner, it is afternoon tea,” he added.