EU's united front on Brexit could help May cast herself as 'Iron Lady'
Mrs May could receive an election boost if she paints herself as the only one able to front up to European leaders.
Saturday 29 April 2017 21:13, UK
If Angela Merkel's face is a reflection of the EU's tough stance on Brexit then we're in for a tricky few years.
The German chancellor looked like thunder as she headed down the red carpet into the first dedicated EU leaders' meeting since Article 50 was triggered; a meeting to which Britain was not invited.
She then led a chorus of unity which stretched from the leaders' red carpet interviews, into the meeting itself and out the other side.
In their news conference afterwards, the presidents of the European Council and the Commission seemed almost to suggest that they had surprised themselves at the speed with which the EU-27 (the 27 remaining countries of the EU) had agreed their negotiating strategy and red lines.
Donald Tusk, EU Council president, said it took just four minutes. His spokesman had said a little earlier that it took just a minute.
Either way, it was lightening speed for a forum renowned for division and it was a conscious signal to the UK. It was all about removing what Mrs Merkel called the British "illusion" that somehow the unity will crack, the EU will roll over.
The German chancellor said that the UK's call for parallel negotiations (the divorce deal at the same time as the new relationship deal) will not happen.
The divorce deal will be discussed first.
That means agreement on the "exit bill" (Britain's existing financial commitments to the EU), agreement on citizens' reciprocal rights (Donald Tusk and Jean-Claude Juncker showed significant irritation that the UK still hasn't guaranteed the rights of EU citizens who live in the UK), and agreement on a solution for the border in Ireland.
Only when "sufficient progress" has been made on all that (and they will make the judgement, not the UK) can talks about the future begin.
None of this is new.
The EU-27 has been saying as much for months but they have sensed that the UK negotiating team thought they'd give some ground. I have heard it privately and publicly.
This summit was about showing that they won't give ground. The position they displayed today is, they say, firm.
We'll see. The 27 have many different priorities; there are bound to be splinters along the way.
But for now, in a sense, it's no bad thing for Mrs May's election campaign to have such rock solid unity against her in Brussels.
It allows her to try to cast herself as the UK's Iron Lady and persuade the public that she's the only one who can stand up to the stubborn intransigence of Brussels.