Brexit Standoff On Eurocrat Pensions As May Goes To Summit

Angela Merkel hints at trade talks by Christmas as Theresa May arrives at a crucial summit demanding the EU end bitter wrangling over a divorce bill Eurocrats say should be £100BILLION...
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Angela Merkel hinted at Brexit talks beginning by Christmas today as Theresa May arrived at a crucial summit demanding an end to the deadlock in negotiations.

The Brexit negotiations have reached an acrimonious stalemate over EU demands for Britain to pay an exit bill some in Europe still believe should be £100billion.

EU leaders gathered in Brussels today for a summit that was supposed to green light a second phase of negotiations about future relations between the UK and EU.

Britain has effectively accepted this will now not happen but Mrs May called for an end to the bitter wrangling as she arrived today, calling for new talks within weeks.

In a hint at possible progress German Chancellor Mrs Merkel hinted at a breakthrough within weeks.

In a significant moment of symbolism, Mrs Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron walked Mrs May into the summit room today - an image starkly different to earlier gatherings where the British PM has been left painfully isolated.

In a dispute on another front, Britain is said to be fighting calls to pay 11billion euros towards pensions for EU officials, saying the true figure should be more like 3.5billion.

Despite the impasse, in a significant act of symbolism Mrs May walked into the summit room flanked by Mrs Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron this afternoon.

As Mrs May got down to work at the EU headquarters today, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was also in Brussels holding his own talks over Brexit.

Speaking to reporters as she arrived in Brussels this afternoon, Mrs May said set our her hopes for a breakthrough.

She said: 'I set out a few weeks ago in Florence a very bold and ambitious agenda and vision for our future partnership between the EU and UK.

'At the heart of that remains cooperation on the key issues and dealing with the shared challenges that we face.

'That speech ... set out that ambitious vision and Iook forward to us being able to progress that in the weeks ahead.'

German Chancellor Angela Merkel held out the prospect of a breakthrough at the next Council summit shortly before Christmas.

As she arrived at the summit today, the Chancellor told reporters there had been insufficient progress in negotiations so far to move on to trade talks, but enough to encourage her to think it will be possible to 'take the work forward and then reach the start of the second phase in December'.

Mrs Merkel said she wanted there to be 'a good relationship between the UK and EU in the future'.

French President Emmanuel Macron said there had been attempts to create divisions within the EU, but that the 27 would show 'very strong unity in the discussions on Brexit', with shared goals and support for Michel Barnier as the EU's sole chief negotiator.

The pensions dispute could be brought up at a dinner for the bloc's leaders tonight, where Mrs May is expected to make an intervention on Brexit.

The EU is desperate to avoid reopening carefully set budget plans, with countries like Germany refusing to pay more and net recipients saying they will not accept less.

But Downing Street is adamant the PM will not make any further concessions on the divorce bill at this stage, after she offered to contribute 20billion euros during a two-year transition and said the UK would honour 'commitments' potentially totalling tens of billions more.

The pensions row is not over the principle of the UK helping meet the costs, but about how the liabilities are calculated.

There are some 1,730 Britons among around the 22,000 retired EU officials, and more pensions will start being paid over the coming years.

The most recent EU accounts showed the total liabilities for pensions rose 5 percent last year to 67.2 billion euros.

Brussels wants to use what is regarded as an artificially low 'discount rate' - an estimated rate of return on capital - that would put the UK share at 11billion euros.

But British negotiators are said to believe the bill should be around 3.5billion euros.

'Paying pensions for well-heeled Eurocrats is one thing but doing it at a rip-off rate is toxic and could be too nasty a medicine for the British public to swallow,' a source close to the talks told The Times. 'Is it really worth jeopardising everything for this?'

Mrs May is being urged by some Tory Brexiteers to take a tough line with Brussels.

Former Cabinet minister Lord Lawson, Peter Lilley, John Redwood and Owen Paterson have gone further and suggested she should simply walk away from the table.