Britain's Prime Minister Theresa May
If Britain does not reach an exit deal with the European Union, the "position changes" on its agreement to pay a financial settlement to the bloc, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday.
As part of a Brexit transition deal, Britain has agreed to pay the EU between 35 and 39 billion euros ($41-$46 billion) over the coming decades.
"We are a country which honours our obligations, we believe in the rule of law and therefore we believe in abiding by our legal obligations," she told parliament.
"However ... the specific offer was made in the spirit of our desire to reach a deal with the European Union and on the basis, as the EU themselves have said, that nothing is agreed until everything is agreed, without a deal the position changes."
Brexit supporting rebels in Prime Minister Theresa May's party made proposals on Wednesday which they said would allow trade to flow over the Irish border while safeguarding the integrity of the European Union's Single Market."Such measures can ensure that the trade across the Irish border is maintained," said the lawmakers from the European Research Group (ERG), a grouping in May's Conservative Party which wants a sharper break with the EU."The integrity of the EU Single Market is safeguarded," the lawmakers said. "The UK and the EU would be free to conclude a far-reaching Free Trade Agreement."EU's Juncker says ties with UK will always be close but Brexit demands remainBoth the EU and Britain want to avoid a so-called hard border between UK's Northern Ireland and the EU's Irish Republic because such a border could undermine a 1998 peace agreement that ended decades of sectarian conflict in the north.But it is still unclear how goods crossing between the EU and the UK in Ireland would be monitored if there is no border and if Northern Ireland, as a part of the UK, leaves both the customs union and the single market.Under the lawmakers' proposals, any additional declarations could be incorporated into the existing system used for VAT returns. They also said licensed customs brokers could be engaged to support businesses in dealing with rules of origin and customs arrangements. About 50 Conservative lawmakers discuss ousting UK PM May
Brexit rebels make proposals on Irish border issue
Europe must remain tolerant to avoid atrocities such as the "impending humanitarian disaster" in Syria's Idlib province, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said Wednesday.Delivering his final State of the Union speech at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Juncker said, "Europe must remain a tolerant continent... it will never become a fortress, turning its back on the world.""Take a look around. What is happening in Idlib in Syria now must be of deep and direct concern to us all. We cannotremain silent in face of this impending humanitarian disaster -- which appears now all but inevitable," he said, adding:"The conflict in Syria is a case in point for how the international order that served Europeans so well after the SecondWorld War is being increasingly called into question."UK 'strongly' agrees with Turkey's Erdoğan on IdlibUN chief says 'essential' to avoid Idlib 'bloodbath'Addressing the Balkan EU accession issue, Juncker said the EU still needs a "forthright attitude" noting that EU enlargement is and remains a "success story"."We must find unity when it comes to the Western Balkans... Should we not, our immediate neighborhood will be shaped by others."The Luxembourg politician told MEPs that the EU must respond to the "many", not the "few".Juncker said EU member states must remove any borders they have thrown up during migration crisis.He also revealed a new EU alliance with Africa that could create 10 million jobs in Africa in the next five years.He said Europe should "stop seeing the African-EU relationship from the sole prism of development aid."He added that "such an approach is humiliating for Africa. Africa does not need charity, it needs a true and balanced partnership and Europe needs this just as much."As for Brexit, Juncker said the EU "respects the British decision to leave our union, even though we continue to regret it deeply. But we also ask the British government to understand someone who leaves the union cannot be of the same privileged position.""If you leave the Union, you of course, are no longer a part of our single market. And certainly no longer just parts of it.""After 29 March 2019, the United Kingdom will never be an ordinary third country for us. The United Kingdom will always be a very close neighbour and partner, in political, economic and security terms," Juncker said.Juncker called the EU members "to say No to unhealthy nationalism and Yes to patriotism," saying, "unchecked nationalism is riddled with poison and deceit".Juncker sent a positive signal on May's Brexit proposal, known as the "Chequers" plan for the country residence where it was hammered out in July. It calls for Britain to stay in a free trade zone with the EU for goods, opposed at home by both supporters of closer ties and those who want a cleaner break."I welcome Prime Minister May's proposal to develop an ambitious new partnership for the future, after Brexit. We agree with the statement made in Chequers that the starting point for such a partnership should be a free trade area between the United Kingdom and the European Union," Juncker said.About 50 Conservative lawmakers discuss ousting UK PM May'Wrong Brexit deal will cost thousands of jobs'Juncker seeks bigger global role for euroEuropean Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker called on Wednesday for the European Union to promote the euro as a global currency to challenge the U.S. dollar."We must do more to allow our single currency to play its full role on the international scene," Juncker told the European Parliament in Strasbourg as he presented his annual programme."It is absurd that Europe pays for 80 percent of its energy import bill – worth 300 billion euros a year – in U.S. dollars when only roughly 2 percent of our energy imports come from the United States," he said."It is absurd that European companies buy European planes in dollars instead of euro," he added.While Norway prices its substantial supplies to the EU in euros, an EU official said, other countries use dollars. Among the most important of these are Gulf states and Russia."The euro must become the face and the instrument of a new, more sovereign Europe," Juncker said, as he called for the bloc to become more of a global player and exert more influence internationally with a unified stance.European Commission calls end to seasonal clock changeJuncker also proposed to end seasonal clock changes in the EU starting next year."We all say in soap-box speeches that we want to be big on big things and small on small things. But there is no applause when EU law dictates that Europeans have to change the clocks twice a year," he was quoted as saying in a statement."Clock-changing must stop. Member states should themselves decide whether their citizens live in summer or wintertime", he added.Violeta Bulc, the commissioner for transport, said in the statement that the Commission is proposing to put an end to seasonal clock changes as of next year.Last month, the Commission published the results of an online public survey on clock change in Europe -- showing nearly 85 percent of the Europeans are in favor of putting an end to the bi-annual clock change.The Commission's proposal will go to the European Parliament and the Council for their agreement.
Juncker warns EU of 'humanitarian disaster' in Idlib
President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday that Russia knew the real identity of two men accused by British prosecutors of trying to murder former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in Britain.British prosecutors last week identified two Russians who they said were operating under aliases - Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov - who they said had tried to murder the Skripals with a military-grade nerve agent in England.Putin, speaking at an economic forum in the Russian port city of Vladivostok, said Russia had found the two men, that they were civilians, and there was nothing special or criminal about them and that he hoped they would come forward and tell the world their own story. Russia calls on UK to help identify poisoning suspectsRussians named in spy poisoning travelled widely in EuropeKremlin calls British allegations in spy poisoning unacceptable
Putin says Russia knows real identity of men accused by UK over poisoning
The UK's UN ambassador "strongly" agreed with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Tuesday amid a mounting offensive on northwestern Syria's Idlib province.“We strongly agree with President Erdogan,” Karen Pierce told the UN Security Council citing an op-ed penned by Erdoğan.Erdogan on Monday said in the Wall Street Journal: “All members of the international community must understand their responsibilities as the assault on Idlib looms. The consequences of inaction are immense.”“A regime assault [in Idlib] would also create serious humanitarian and security risks for Turkey, the rest of Europe and beyond,” he added.UN chief says 'essential' to avoid Idlib 'bloodbath'US rips Russia, Iran, Assad regime amid Idlib offensiveHe noted the regime's criminal acts -- arbitrary arrests, systematic torture, summary executions, barrel bombs, chemical and conventional weapons -- which targeted Syrians for seven years."As a result of the Syrian civil war, which the United Nations Human Rights Council calls ‘the worst man-made disaster since World War II’, millions of innocent people have become refugees or have been internally displaced," he said.He also noted Turkey's role in protecting the Syrian people, as it hosts the largest number of refugees in the world at 3.5 million.Pierce said the council faces "a choice", between a Syrian regime and Russian "military assault on Idlib in which, as many colleagues have said today, thousands of civilians will die," or "we allow Turkey and opposition groups the support, space and time to separate out the terrorists and tackle them themselves."Turkey has a plan, Madam President, in Idlib and it does involve reaching an agreement with the Syrian opposition whereby the regime refrains from attacking them while they combat terrorism," she said referring to Nikki Haley, the U.S.'s UN envoy and council president."This is what we should be discussing today, Madam President, but I think it has been absent from the briefing we received from Russia just now," Pierce added.Haley further blamed Russia and the regime for allegedly carrying out more than 100 airstrikes, some of which she said were "ruthless double tap" strikes targeting first responders.“It is a disgusting tactic of terrorists, not professional soldiers,” she said.She alleged Moscow, Tehran and Damascus are not interested in pursuing a political solution to the Syrian crisis, saying “Turkey learned this lesson last week” during trilateral talks in the Iranian capital.“The United States is long past taking Russia and Iran at their word that they are interested in protecting civilians in Idlib from further violence," she said. "If Assad, Russia, and Iran continue down the path they are on, the consequences will be dire. The world will hold them responsible. And no number of Security Council meetings will ever change that.”The UN warned Monday at least 30,000 residents in Idlib have been displaced in the first nine days this month amid the Russian and regime air campaign there.
UK 'strongly' agrees with Turkey's Erdoğan on Idlib
A group of about 50 lawmakers in British Prime Minister Theresa May's government who oppose her proposals for a post-Brexit deal with the European Union have met to discuss how and when they could force her out of her job, the BBC reported on Wednesday.The lawmakers, part of the European Research Group (ERG), an anti-EU grouping in May's Conservative party, met on Tuesday night and openly discussed May's future as leader, the BBC said citing an unnamed source.A number at the meeting said they had already submitted letters of no confidence in May, the source told the BBC. Under Conservative rules, a leadership election is triggered if 15 percent of Conservative lawmakers, currently 48, demand a vote of no confidence.The ERG has condemned May's plans for Britain to remain in a free trade zone for goods with the EU after it leaves the bloc in March next year, but has faced criticism itself for failing to suggest a detailed alternative. Rejecting Brexit plan is not a confidence vote on UK PM May: Conservative lawmakerUK finance minister says time running out on Brexit; BoE governor to stay onBritish PM May hopes parliament will support her Brexit plan
About 50 Conservative lawmakers discuss ousting UK PM May