Exclusive: PM’s decision described as ‘yet another own goal’ as minutes of Brussels meeting reveal low opinion of David Davis

Theresa May has caused further ill will in Brussels by rejecting an invitation to address the European parliament in public, EU sources have said, instead insisting she will only talk to its leaders behind closed doors.

The prime minister had been asked by the parliament’s president, Antonio Tajani, to speak to a full session of the chamber to explain her position on Brexit.

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The parliament will have the power of veto over any withdrawal agreement struck between the UK and the EU. May had revealed in June that she was in discussions about an appearance.

According to senior EU sources, Downing Street has now informed Tajani that May was only willing to talk in private to the leaders of the parliament, rather than face a plenary session in full public view.

One EU source said the decision had disappointed a number of key figures in the parliament at a time when the UK was keen to win support among MEPs for its argument that a comprehensive free-trade deal was in the interests of all parties in the negotiations.



May would have followed in the footsteps of Gordon Brown, Tony Blair and Margaret Thatcher if she had faced MEPs in the chamber.

“This is yet another own goal,” one EU official said of May’s decision.

Downing Street did not deny that May had turned down an offer to address the Eropean parliament, but said she would attend a meeting with Tajani and the chairs of its political groups.

“The prime minister has confirmed to President Tajani that she would be happy to address the conference of presidents. A date will now be arranged with his team,” a No 10 spokesman said. No date has yet been set for her attendance at the group, which meets about twice a month.

Elmar Brok MEP, a German member of the European parliament’s Brexit steering committee, said: “The European parliament remains ready to offer flexible solutions. Why make enemies? It’s ridiculous.”

David Cameron, as prime minister, was to address a meeting of European parliament leaders in Brussels – not a full plenary session – in February 2016, but cancelled as he sought to negotiate a deal with the EU on the renegotiation of the UK’s membership terms before last June’s referendum.

The development comes as minutes of a European commission meeting in Brussels revealed the low opinion EU negotiators hold of the UK’s Brexit secretary, David Davis.

They show that Brussels was unimpressed after the first round of Brexit talks in July, and the commission’s president, Jean-Claude Juncker, suggested Davis was unwilling to engage fully with the negotiations.

The minutes of a meeting on 12 July, published on Thursday, read: “Winding up the discussion, the president expressed his concern about the question of the stability and accountability of the UK negotiator and his apparent lack of involvement, which risked jeopardising the success of the negotiations.”

The minutes also show that earlier in the meeting, Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief negotiator, said Davis had tried to pass responsibility for face-to-face talks on to his officials.

“He observed that the United Kingdom had not yet really engaged in the negotiations or spelled out its positions,” the minutes said. “He noted in this regard that David Davis, the secretary of state for exiting the European Union, did not regard his direct involvement in these negotiations as his priority and there was also a possibility that he might not be present at the full opening session of the July cycle of talks.”

Davis did attend the talks on 17 July but was heavily criticised for leaving after less than two hours.

A joint statement from Tajani and the parliament’s Brexit coordinator, Guy Verhofstadt, suggested that a widening of talks to matters of trade with the UK should be delayed until December.

The statement said: “A clear majority of group leaders were of the view that continued lack of clarity or absence of UK proposals on separation issues as well as the latest developments in Brexit negotiations meant that it was more than likely the assessment on ‘sufficient progress’ on the first phase of Brexit negotiations is unlikely to have been met by the October European council.”

It added that the position of the group leaders would be voted on by MEPs on 2 October.

Tajani said: “Given the current state of play of negotiations and the current position of the UK, it would seem very difficult that sufficient progress can be achieved by October on separation issues in order to enter phase 2 of the negotiations. In this case, I would think it wise for the European council to postpone this point to its December meeting.”