EU leaders hand Theresa May a Brexit lifeline by giving Michel Barnier new orders to break the negotiating deadlock
THERESA May has been handed a Brexit boost as EU leaders prepare to give Michel Barnier new orders to break the negotiating deadlock.
The remaining member states are set to add to the guidelines issued to their chief negotiator in a sign British warnings about “no deal” are finally hitting home.
Speaking at a forum in Slovenia this afternoon, Mr Barnier said: “I think if we are realistic we are able to reach an agreement on the first stage of the work - which is the Brexit treaty - within six to eight weeks.
“We must reach an agreement by the beginning of November.”
The EU chief negotiator’s unusually upbeat remarks came as Labour peer Lord Mandelson claimed the EU was mounting a “Save Theresa” operation.
Devout Remainer Mandy says Brussels fears a collapse in talks would bring down Theresa May.
He added: “They don’t want Boris Johnson — they think he would plunge Britain, and to a certain extent Europe, into chaos.
And the Prime Minister's hopes of securing a deal were further bolstered by Austrian leader Sebastian Kurz, who has told Eurocrats to up their game in the talks.
The Chancellor, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the bloc, said he wants concrete progress within weeks and called for new thinking.
EU leaders will meet in Salzburg later this month, where Mr Barnier will give an update on the negotiations over a lunch dedicated to unsticking negotiations.
Speaking about the summit, Mr Kurz said: "I hope we're able to make some progress on Brexit.
"It would be good if in Salzburg we already had a Commission proposal for finding an agreement with Britain this Autumn."
The Austrian is understood to be determined to wrap up a deal on the Withdrawal Agreement before the end of his country's presidency in December.
And sources told the FT new wording will be handed to Mr Barnier to “serve as a sort of mandate to do the deal” in response to repeated pleas from the UK.
But they stressed member states remain completely behind Mr Barnier and that the alteration would largely be an act of "symbolism".
EU diplomats have also cautioned that the move may not provide as much of a boost for Mrs May as she is hoping for.
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One warned The Sun: "Engaging per se doesn't mean good or bad for the UK. I wouldn't necessarily interpret it as helping May."
However, the news was welcomed by Eurosceptics who have repeatedly called on Member States to pressurise the hard-line Commission to compromise.
Henry Newman, director of the Open Europe think tank and a former advisor to Michael Gove, said: "This is long overdue.
"The EU's only offer is a trade agreement for just Great Britain, essentially 'annexing' Northern Ireland in a separate regulatory and customs regime. Impossible."
The Sun Says
PIGS will fly when Michel Barnier compromises Brussels’ sacred principles.
So we are sceptical that he will be ordered by EU leaders to soften his position significantly.
Even if he is, Theresa May must not follow suit.
The Chequers offer is already so over-generous it has triggered Cabinet resignations and Tory mutiny. If Barnier now wants to make it work for fear of a No Deal, it is a signal for us to realise the EU is on the back foot and to extract more concessions.
Mrs May must not give an inch over free movement or anything else. Nor commit a penny of our divorce bill without tying it to a decent deal.
It would be fatal for her. Chequers looks almost dead as it is. Even if Barnier breathes life into it, many Tories are still vowing to vote it down.
Barnier has been overplaying his hand for two years. The EU is waking up to it, possibly too late.