Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz
Britain's European Union partners should do everything in their power to avoid a "hard Brexit" in which London leaves the bloc without a deal, Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said on Monday.
"I think that we agree that we have to do everything possible to avoid a hard Brexit," Kurz told reporters in Paris, where he was meeting French President Emmanuel Macron.
"It's indispensable that we reach an agreement and that European Union rules be fully maintained," Macron said.
British Prime Minister Theresa May has warned rebels in her party that the alternative to her potential Brexit deal with the EU is no deal.The United Kingdom is due to leave the EU on March 29 and yet little is clear: There is, so far, no full exit agreement and some rebels in May's Conservative Party have threatened to vote down a deal if she clinches one."I think that the alternative to that will be having no deal," May told BBC TV.The main sticking point to agreeing a deal between Britain and the EU is the issue of ensuring there will be no hard border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic after Brexit.The Times newspaper reported that the EU's chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, is working on a new protocol text outlining how to use technology to minimise checks on the border.Under the EU plan, goods could be tracked using barcodes on shipping containers under "trusted-trader" schemes administered by registered companies, the Times reported.Reuters reported on Sept. 12 that EU officials were working on a sensitive Irish protocol to the draft Brexit treaty with Britain, as part of what Barnier has called efforts to "de-dramatise" the issue and get a deal.The proposals are to be circulated to European governments after the Conservative Party conference which starts on Sept. 30, according to the Times.The "revised draft of the Northern Ireland protocol", according to a diplomatic note of talks between EU ambassadors, will propose that most new checks would not happen at any border, the Times said. London mayor calls for second referendum on BrexitBritish ex-Foreign Minister Johnson says supports May, opposes her Brexit planBritain and EU 'closing in' on a Brexit agreement, Raab saysBrexit talks 'closing in on workable solutions,' Raab says
The alternative to my Brexit deal is no deal: UK PM May
European Union leaders will discuss next week new proposals to protect the EU’s external borders and control migration, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Sunday.Speaking to reporters ahead of a meeting with her Austrian counterpart in Berlin, Chancellor Angela Merkel said they would exchange views on the agenda of next week’s informal EU leaders’ summit.“We share the priorities of the Austrian presidency, that is to say, we must focus on protecting our external borders,” Merkel said.“European Commission's President Jean-Claude Juncker has recently made some far-reaching proposals on this topic, I welcome these proposals,” she added.Merkel also called for a strong cooperation between the EU and African countries to control migration, and underlined that the leaders would also discuss proposals on this topic during their meeting in Salzburg next week.Last week, Juncker had proposed new measures to strengthen controls at the EU’s external borders, and suggested sending 10,000 more border guards to tackle illegal immigration.Juncker also announced plans to further develop the European Asylum Agency to assist member states in processing asylum seekers, and promised measures to accelerate the return of irregular migrants.Austria’s Chancellor Sebastian Kurz told reporters on Sunday, ahead of his meeting with Merkel, that besides the issues of migration and internal security, ongoing Brexit negotiations with the U.K. would be another major topic of discussion.European Union leaders will gather in Austria’s Salzburg city for a two-day informal summit on Sep 19-20.Austria is holding the EU's rotating six-month presidency until the end of this year.
EU leaders to discuss migration, Brexit in Salzburg