Europeon Union leaders warn next British PM: no Brexit renegotiation

BRUSSELS: The EU’s leaders on Friday fired a Brexit warning to whoever wins the battle to become the next British prime minister, insisting the existing divorce deal will not be changed.

Hot favourite Boris Johnson faces foreign minister Jeremy Hunt in a run-off vote to decide who takes on the tricky task of piloting the country’s departure from the EU. Both say they want to renegotiate the deal that outgoing PM Theresa May struck with Brussels after two years of painful negotiation -- a deal which British lawmakers have rejected three times.

At a leaders’ summit in Brussels, European Council President Donald Tusk said the bloc would remain “very precise and also patient” despite the high political drama unfolding in Westminster.

“Maybe the process of Brexit will be even more exciting than before because of some personnel decisions in London, but nothing has changed when it comes to our position,” Tusk told reporters.

He said that all remaining 27 EU leaders were adamant there could be no changes to the legal accord struck in November last year. “We are open for talks when it comes to the declaration on the future UK-EU relations if the position of the UK were to evolve, but the withdrawal agreement is not open for renegotiation,” Tusk said.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the European Commission, which led Brexit talks for the EU side, said leaders “repeated unanimously there will be no renegotiation of the withdrawal agreement”. Barring a major upset, the 160,000 grassroots members of the Conservative party will choose Johnson to take over from May in July.

But the blond former mayor of London is a hugely divisive figure. Some say his wit and charisma is what is needed to win Brussels around, while critics point to his long history of gaffes and accuse him of cheap populism and a lazy lack of attention to detail.

Recent threats by Johnson to withhold Britain’s 39-billion-pound divorce bill unless the EU agrees to better terms were seen in Brussels as a sign of possible bad faith. Though she was berated at home for her plodding approach, May won admirers in the EU for what they saw as her fair-minded pursuit of a Brexit deal.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who has taken a tough line on Brexit, said he hoped May’s successor would act with the same “formidable loyalty and formidable respect” she had shown.

“She never sought to block Europe and she never held discussions about the future hostage,” Macron said. “I don’t want to involve myself in internal British life but I hope we will see the same decency and the same spirit of responsiblity which she brought.”