May and Macron to hold 'informal' Brexit talks

British Prime Minister Theresa May and French President Emmanuel Macron took a break from their summer holidays on Friday to discuss May's proposal on how Britain can maintain economic ties with the European Union after it leaves the bloc at the end of March next year.

The planned meeting, which France insists is no substitute for official negotiations with the EU, comes as pressure grows on May to come up with a plan that is accepted both by negotiators in Brussels and both sides of her divided Conservative party ahead of an EU summit in mid-October.

The two leaders met for talks at the 17th-century fort of Bregancon on the French Riviera, which has long been used by French presidents as a summer retreat.

Read more:Is the Brexit hard-liner European Research Group running the UK? 

The sticking points

• May is seeking European support for her plan laying out her vision of future British-EU relations.
• The plan has so far convinced neither Brussels negotiators nor euroskeptics at home.
• London has warned that all sides will suffer if Britain leaves the bloc without a deal in place.

Read more: Britain's overseas territories brace for Brexit

'Not a negotiation'

A French presidency official said the meeting was "not a negotiation; it is not a substitute for the negotiations led by Michel Barnier." Macron fully backed Barnier's reserved response to May's plan, he said.

"There is absolutely no intention to speak in place of Michel Barnier," he added.

Barnier, the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, on July 26 rejected several elements in the trade proposal put forward by May, including Britain's offer to collect customs duties for the EU to avoid a "hard border" between the UK and EU member Ireland.

Barnier himself said last week that there was not a "sliver of difference" between him and the remaining 27 EU leaders regarding the bloc's stance on Brexit.

Friday's meeting is being viewed in some quarters as part of a UK attempt to circumvent Barnier by appealing directly to individual EU governments. 

Last-ditch offensive: May has recently held discussions with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and with the Austrian and Czech leaders as she tries to sell her plan for continued close economic ties with the EU without many of the obligations imposed by membership in the bloc. The diplomatic offensive comes after her foreign minister, Jeremy Hunt, on Tuesday warned of the dangers of Britain crashing out of the EU with no deal, saying that "for every job lost in the UK, there will be jobs lost in Europe as well if Brexit goes wrong."

What's in the British proposal? The deal proposed by May would see Britain pulling out of most parts of the EU's single market and customs union for goods and services. It would also remove Britain from the EU's legal jurisdiction. The proposal, however, foresees replacing Britain's membership in the single market and customs union with a deal on tariff-free trade in goods and agricultural products. The UK would also commit to guaranteeing that British goods are made to EU standards.

tj/rt (AFP, Reuters)

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