Theresa May is launching a final pre-holiday push to get her Chequers plan back on track, as one of her former ministers said the EU’s attitude risked the UK facing a choice between a no-deal departure or “final capitulation” to Brussels.
A day after Michel Barnier appeared to scupper a key element of the prime minister’s proposal by saying the UK could not collect EU tariffs under a future customs arrangement, May was in Austria for talks with its chancellor,Sebastian Kurz.
She was also due to meet the Czech prime minister, Andrej Babiš, and attend a music festival in Salzburg as a guest of Kurz.
May is seemingly keen to explore whether the Austrian and Czech governments, both of which have had differences with Brussels, could take a softer line to that given by Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator.
At a press conference on Thursday alongside the new Brexit secretary, Barnier dismissed the basis of May’s plan for a facilitated customs arrangements, saying the EU “cannot and will not delegate the application of its customs policy and rules, VAT and duty collection to a non-member who would not be subject to the EU governance structures”.
