Theresa May has been told by European leaders that an attempt to protect the UK’s industrial base by gaining single market access for goods alone after Brexit is a nonstarter, as the Irish prime minister warned: “We are not going to let them destroy the European Union.”

After being given a “broad brush approach” presentation at a Brussels summit of May’s long-awaited paper, yet to be signed off by her warring British cabinet, the taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, told her that unless the final document presented a departure from the UK government’s thinking over the last two years, it would be dead on arrival.

The British government is continuing to push the idea of keeping frictionless trade on goods, claiming that it would be a good deal for Europe, given the large trade surplus it enjoys.

May has promised to publish her vision for the future trading relationship after a cabinet meeting at Chequers on Friday.

Speaking at the end of a summit dominated by a row over migration, Donald Tusk, the European council president, said that “quick progress” in the Brexit negotiations was needed for there to be any hope of an agreement in October, at what is increasingly being billed as a make-or-break summit.

“This is the last call to lay the cards on the table,” Tusk said, of the EU’s call for a workable plan.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, said: “There is a clear message in this respect – we can no longer wait.

“I cannot speculate as to the possibility of an agreement. I would like an agreement now but it is not in our hands ... We need a clear proposal in compliance with our values. The British prime minister is well aware of our treaties because they signed them and ratified them. Brexit can only happen in compliance with our values.

“We are doing what it takes to stick to the deadline but we had no British proposal. Depending how realistic and compatible they are with the rules we have set from the beginning, we will see how we can move forward.”

Belgium’s prime minister, Charles Michel, said he was “not very optimistic at this point”.

He added: “Feeling that dominates is the impression that the Brits continue to negotiate with the Brits and not with the EU. The red lines set by the UK are globally incompatible with the fundamental principles of the EU.”

May told Europe’s leaders, during a 15-minute presentation on Thursday night, that following the publication of her paper she would visit the EU’s capitals to explain her thinking.

The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said she would welcome “a longer debate”.

“We are waiting for the white paper because time is of the essence now,” Merkel said.

Varadkar said the prime minister had, however, taken time in the margins of the summit to give a briefing on her plans.

He told reporters: “What she said to me was that she hoped it would form the basis of negotiations on the final status treaty.

“I did say, and she understood me, that there really isn’t any point in putting forward something that wouldn’t possibly form the basis of negotiations, and that would be anything that would engage in cherrypicking, would have one of the four freedoms but not all four. Trying to have some of the benefits but not the responsibility and costs. If it is still in that space it isn’t going to be the basis of a negotiation ... There would certainly be no point in producing papers similar to those produced last summer.”

Varadkar added: “If that principle were to be conceded there would be Eurosceptics and right-wing populist parties in every second country of Europe who would say cannot we have the same deal. While we really regret that the UK has decided to leave the European Union, we are not going to let them destroy the European Union.”

Earlier in the day, the EU’s chief negotiator, Michel Barnier, focused on what he described as the “huge and serious divergence” between the UK and the bloc on avoiding a border on the island of Ireland.

Barnier, who gave the EU leaders a presentation on the state of the talks, added: “Now we are waiting for the UK white paper and I hope it will contain workable and realistic proposals, but let me mention once again that the time is very short.”

According to Bloomberg, one unnamed prime minister was said to have told aides that he believed there was now a 50% chance of the Brexit talks failing, after listening to May on Thursday evening, up from 20%.

The EU27 subsequently signed off on a joint statement warning in grave terms about the need to prepare for a no-deal scenario.



Spain insisted on the insertion of a warning that the UK also had to come to an agreement on the future of Gibraltar after Brexit if the rock is to be covered by the terms of the transition period, in which the UK will stay in the single market and customs union until December 2020.

The leaders also repeated their offer to reconsider their own proposal of a limited free-trade agreement, in which customs and single market checks would act as a burden for both sides economies, if “the UK positions were to evolve”.