EU tells UK: No trade talks without progress on Irish border
LONDON — The European Union warned Britain on Friday that it must outline by next week how it plans to keep an open Irish border after Brexit or the bloc will refuse to start negotiating a new trade deal with the U.K.
Standing alongside European Council President Donald Tusk in Dublin, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said the U.K. must offer “credible, concrete and workable solutions that guarantee there will no hard border” between Northern Ireland and the Irish republic after Britain leaves the EU in 2019.
Tusk said British Prime Minister Theresa May had until Monday to present her “final offer” on divorce terms so that the 27 other EU leaders can assess it before a crucial Dec. 14-15 summit in Brussels. That meeting will decide whether there has been enough progress to move on to discussing future relations and trade.
Tusk said the whole EU was behind Ireland on the need for a border plan — dashing British hopes that some member states might be prepared to compromise.