Brexit negotiations: British Prime Minister Theresa May cannot 'break the rope'

British Prime Minister Theresa May on October 19 called on the EU to come up with a Brexit deal that she could defend to the British people.

The call comes as negotiations on Britain's exit from the European Union (EU) remain deadlocked over disagreement over the huge "divorce bill".

German Chancellor Merkel (left), British Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Macron (right) at the EU conference on October 19. (Photo: AP)

Speaking at a dinner party on October 19 within the framework of the European Council Summit with 27 heads of state of the bloc's member countries in Brussels (Belgium), Prime Minister May emphasized the urgent and clear requirement at this time that the EU must break the deadlock in Brexit negotiations and move on to future trade negotiations between the two sides.

The comments came after EU leaders told the British Prime Minister she must make a clearer commitment to paying the Brexit “divorce bill” if she is to make progress in talks.

Despite the current deadlock in the negotiations, British Prime Minister Theresa May has firmly rejected growing domestic pressure to publicly declare her readiness to abandon the negotiations if progress is not made as expected. She called for a joint effort and commitment to conduct the negotiations with a new spirit, so that the UK and the EU can “move forward together”.

“I can say that what we are doing is to get the best possible deal for the UK, but it would be irresponsible for the government not to prepare for every possible scenario. That is exactly what we are doing,” the British Prime Minister said.

Regarding the Brexit “divorce bill”, Deputy Head of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) parliamentary delegation in the German Parliament, Mr. Michael Fuchs, stated that the financial bill that the UK needs to complete to leave the EU ranges from 60 billion to 100 billion euros. He said that the 20 billion euros proposed by the British Prime Minister is “definitely not enough”.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, one of Britain's most important allies in the EU, also admitted that he had asked the British Prime Minister to express a clearer view on the Brexit financial bill issue.

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said there were "encouraging" signs of progress in Brexit negotiations, hinting at the possibility that the talks would yield good results.

“We will discuss Brexit at this summit,” Merkel said. “There has been progress in the negotiations. The chief negotiator Michel Banier will send us a report saying that there is not enough progress to start the second phase, but this is encouraging.”

The German Chancellor also affirmed: “Everything will continue and we will start phase 2 next December. I want to continue the negotiations in a constructive and cooperative spirit, with respect for the British people's desire to leave the EU. But I also want to maintain good relations between the UK and the EU.”

In addition to disagreements over the Brexit bill, the UK and the EU also have fundamental differences over the role of the European Court of Justice in ensuring the rights of EU citizens living in the UK after Brexit.

Speaking to European press in Brussels, Belgium on October 19, British Minister in charge of Brexit negotiations, Mr. David Davis, said that the UK is open to the possibility of making a new concession on this issue, according to which, 3 million EU citizens living in the UK may be given a certain time frame to arrange for their families to come to the UK to reunite with them after Brexit.

Meanwhile, Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said that Britain needs to make some more concessions to push Brexit negotiations to make the necessary progress so that Britain and the EU can move on to discussions on the future relationship and trade deal next December.

Not only under pressure from the EU, Prime Minister Theresa May also has to face pressure domestically when she has to "steer" a very difficult internal political situation, when many powerful figures in the UK demand that the country withdraw from negotiations without any agreement with the EU.

On October 18, the British Government had to delay the process of bringing the Brexit bill to the House of Commons for further discussion, due to concerns that it would face failure from the opposition Labor Party and many "rebellious" Conservative MPs with about 300 additional amendments requested to be included in the bill.

There are growing concerns that the bill will only be officially enacted after Christmas this year./.

According to VOV