UK plans for trade and Irish border need to be reworked, says Tusk | The Guardian |

Donald Tusk has said that Theresa May's Chequers proposals for dealing with the Irish border and future trade relations after Brexit will need to be "reworked and further negotiated" in a sign of how far the UK and EU are from resolving the most fraught issues in the divorce talks.

Opening the EU summit in Salzburg, Tusk, the European council president, said the Brexit talks were entering a decisive phase and that "various scenarios" were still possible - a clear hint that no-deal remained a possibility if no acceptable resolution to the negotiations could be reached.

...  in a blow to the British prime minister the EU leader said that was not the case "on other issues, such as the Irish question, or the framework for economic co-operation, where the UK proposals will need to be reworked and further negotiated".

Tusk confirmed there would be a special European summit in November, which is intended to be when Brexit negotiations end, and tried to add a note of urgency in conclusion, saying: "There is more hope but there is surely less and less time, every day left we must use for talks."

At the Salzburg summit May will reject the revised Irish backstop border proposals of Michel Barnier, the EU's chief negotiator, because the EU is still insisting on customs checks in the Irish Sea if the two sides cannot strike a free trade agreement after Brexit.

In Salzburg, the prime minister will also hold bilateral meetings on Thursday with the Tusk, and the Irish taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, as she seeks to end the impasse over the future of the UK's only land border.

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#DavidDavis: #May won't get #Chequers plan through #parliament (_link)

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