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EU PRESIDENT DONALD Tusk confirmed this morning that the bloc would hold a special summit to seal the Brexit agreement with Britain on 25 November.
Tusk’s announcement will come as a boost to British Prime Minister Theresa May as she begins the daunting task of selling the deal to a fractious parliament where she faces resistance from arch Brexiteers and EU supporters alike.
Ambassadors from the 27 remaining EU states will meet by the end of the week to share their analysis of the withdrawal deal, Tusk said, adding that he hoped “there will not be too many comments”.
They will also take stock of work on the “Joint Political Declaration” about future relations between Brussels and Britain, which Tusk said should be finalised with London by Tuesday and then analysed by member states’ officials.
“Then if nothing extraordinary happens, we will hold a European Council meeting in order to finalise and formalise the Brexit agreement. It will take place on Sunday the 25th of November at 9:30 am,” Tusk told the press alongside EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier a day after the 585-page withdrawal agreement was approved by the British cabinet.
Tusk paid tribute to the work of Barnier and his team, who he said had “ensured the limitation of the damage caused by Brexit” and secured the interests of the EU.
Barnier said the deal was “fair and balanced”, though it has caused uproar among Brexit supporters in May’s government who accused her of betraying the June 2016 vote to leave the bloc.
The deal covers citizens’ rights, Britain’s financial settlement and plans for a post-Brexit transition period during which both sides hope to agree a new trade deal.
The most controversial element is a “backstop” plan to keep Britain in a customs union with the EU until a trade deal is agreed that avoids the need for border checks with Ireland.
Many Brexiteers fear this would leave Britain a “vassal state”, tied to the bloc indefinitely.
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Never heard of him. His role mustn’t be important
@Kieran Campbell: I’ll wager he’s never heard of you either. Are you not that important?
@Damocles: proving that old saying the pen is mightier then the sword is not always true.
@Kieran Campbell: absolutely never, ever heard of him. Wonder did he ever visit the ‘fourth green field’
@Damocles: lol, it’s good to see you learning from others here.
@Dave O Keeffe: well.. Yeah.
@Declan Joseph Deasy: the saddest part of Northern Ireland people never hearing of him, is that he is the only MP hosting meetings relating to getting MLAs back to work, payment of salaries, and meeting with all parties (including some SF members in NI). He is probably the most important politician in Northern Ireland, as Karen Brady is out of her depth. if anything shows that Northern Ireland people have no say in their own affairs, this is it.
Never heard of him
How does he suggest to avoid a border and respect the economic and constitutional integrity of the UK?
People seem to get away with complaining about how things are whilst not proposing how their vision would be achieved.
@Colm A. Corcoran: technology!
What type of technology nobody in the UK knows!
@Barry Somers: Alien technology perhaps?
More posturing. Deal will be done at the end of the day, everything will carry on regardless and, in the meantime, a lot of wealthy speculators will have gotten significantly more wealthy by exploiting all of the market uncertainty.
I don’t think we’ll ever learn :(
Headless chickens
Thersa may has done the best she can of a bad situation all these brexiteers reject every proposal she puts forward yet they have no alternatives. People have to realise Northern Ireland is different from the rest of the UK because it’s joined to an EU member state.
@Mark Gaffney: Its the British occupied part of our country ffs.
@Mark Gaffney: the Brexiteer group, the ERG, put forward proposals from an EU perspective that resembled a free trade deal (which was initially offered by Barnier). To arrive at my point, you only blaming the Brexiteers is only one side of the story, she needed to appease pro-EU MPs as well. I agree though, she took a poison chalice.
@Mark Gaffney: what kind of fudge statement is that. Its either in the UK or not you cant be kind of in …. Belarus, Kosovo, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, etc etc manage.
Do you mean because its an Island or just because we love giving it to the Sassenach every chance we get
@Chris OB: We gave up that claim after the Good Friday agreement. Its up to the people of the North. This Brexit mess will push for a poll in due time, which will be close and could break into a de facto civil war. Something nobody wants.
@Chris OB: Fair chance the British government would gladly be rid of the expense!
You’d say that the deck of cards is starting to collapse, but they’re so bloody disorganised they never got to stacking a deck in the first place.
So brittish looking. stiff upper lip.
@Sean Conway: British “looking”?
British appearance is entirely down to the shape of someone’s mouth? What are Irish lips like? Floppy?
@Sean Conway: he is actually Polish.
No surrender to the DUP.
Cake and eat it comes to mind. If we all could cherry pick everything we want sure wouldn’t that be nice. See ya
@Cathal Leonard: Ireland does cherry pick . Ireland has been cherry picking since it join . It always got back far more money then they paid in . The UK is the third largest contributor to the EU since the 1975 . It’s been financially supporting the EU at a loss to the British tax payer . There are many countries in the EU that pay nothing but get the same benefits as the UK that pays over 10 billion a yr . The majority of countries in the EU have been cherrying picking at the expense of countries like the UK .
@Paul Smith: next you’ll be saying they’ll give that money to the NHS instead.
Maybe you can put that lie on the side of a bus… Oh wait, they did that.
@Barry Somers: In Irelands case what’s there not to like about the EU . Who would not be in favour of a organisation that gives you back more money then you pay in . The UK has a very different relationship with the EU then Ireland . Brexit is the EUs fault . They refuse to adapt to the needs of their members . Just because Germany needs a large number of immigrants to keep their economy going because they have an ageing population does not mean that other EU countries have to do the same . The Brits ask for nothing more then some say over who comes into their country . The EU said no . Goodbye EU .
@Paul Smith: This is typical right wig godshitery. The British pay into the EU and get many times more back in the trade they do with Member States. The price of this? Its a club a democratic one, the Brits cants take the ball and go home every time they done get their own way. I say let them go, BYE BYE
@Dave Connolly: I think the logic is that they will still trade with business in EU states but will be hit with tariffs that will be cheaper than paying the big slice they have done traditionally. Just because they are leaving doesn’t mean trade is banned, it will carry a price tag. They do business all over the world outside of the remit of EU treaties already and know all about tariffs. Its actually a traditional outlook of British business that the world is their oyster and they thrive in difficult situations. I ran a business there for years and we did very little business with EU States in those days. They will survive. They’re a nation of entrepreneurs, industrialists, engineers, designers, scientists and financiers, the polar opposite to us.
I’ve had a look at the text and the various explanatory documents from the EU and the UK. The EU doc seems to suggest that a future UK govt, in association with a supporting Stormont could easily deliver the de facto unification subsidised by London which some on this island seem to want. There’s scant mention of this in the UK explainers.
From the perspective of the Conservative and Unionist Party (to give their full name) it sets the groundwork for a massive act of betrayal.
From your perspective not so much.
Raab just resigned.
That’s massive.
@Damocles:
Yip. It looks like a cliff-edge Brexit with a no deal might come true with British politics in chaos. What’s next? Another General Election or a new people’s vote on staying in the EU? No deal is not really a solution, hence chaos.
@David Jacobsen: maybe. Maybe not. A hard brexit could precipitate honest cooperation on the border and a reappraisal of priorities.
Hard to be sure.
@Damocles:
I agree with you on that. No one wants a return of the troubles, everyone on the island of Ireland wants peace. Is Britain prepared for a no deal, leaving NI border out of the equation? I read 7000 lorries pass through Dover every day, it would cause chaos without a deal, even for a short period with a hard Brexit. British PM must have the most difficult leadership role on the planet right now in my opinion.
@David Jacobsen: you don’t have to check every box. Massive shipments arrive from outside the UK every day do you think they check every box?
So f**kin what
@Trevor croft: what do you mean?
@Tweety McTweeter: I don’t know, I’m just having a bad morning, is that ok with you sweetie pie?
@Trevor croft: That Minister is having an even worse morning, ever consider his feelings?
@Tweety McTweeter: Tories have feelings?
@Tweety McTweeter: he’s not the minister anymore!! Read the headline,his choice, now p** off and leave me to my bad morning. Thank you
@Tweety McTweeter: A worse morning, are you kidding me? I’m sure he’s delighted to be away from that shit show.
If you mean by the facilitation of the majority of people expressing their wish to become part of a united Ireland as part of GFA,? yes you can call it Betrayal, Democracy or a smashing game of hurling for all I care. I would just call it coming home at last – the day we all knew it eventually would!
The DUP must be very upset that Sinn Fein and Leo Varadhkar are happy with the proposal. TM has lost her think majority support in parliament as the DUP have almost immediately dropped their support. The Brexit secretary Raab has just resigned. It’s a political mess.
No deal campaigners have his ear… hard exit it is then.
Political ship jumping, May’s days are numbered you feel. No harm she’s too weak to be the top dog.
@Emmet Doyle: who do you propose instead
have your say