Five European leaders call for closer ties with Britain ahead of crucial EU summit
The leaders have ramped up pressure on Britain to integrate into the EU’s internal electricity market
Five European leaders have called for closer ties with Britain ahead of a crucial EU-UK summit.
In a letter to Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa, the leaders of Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Denmark, said stronger commitments from both on clean energy would be beneficial to both sides.
Andy Burnham will meet Von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, and Costa, who leads the European Council, on 20 November for the summit in Brussels.
The prime minister will use the summit to push for deals to cut costs and red tape for British farmers and businesses, support industry and boost growth.
In a letter seen by the Guardian, the leaders stated: “We call on you and the UK to agree during the summit on a path towards the conclusion of these negotiations.”
They described the UK as a “close partner in the energy transition,” adding that Britain’s integration into the EU’s internal electricity market was “necessary to unlock the full potential of the North Sea area and transform it into the largest clean energy hub in the world”.
Leaked draft documents prepared ahead of an upcoming summit in Brussels reveal that the EU is demanding financial contributions from the UK in exchange for access to its single market for electricity.
The paper, seen by Sky News, shows that the EU expects “appropriate level of financial contribution towards reducing economic and social disparities between the regions of the EU” from the UK in order to begin trading in the EU's single market for electricity.
It says both the UK and Brussels hope to “conclude these negotiations swiftly” so Britain can access the market “as soon as possible”.
The EU is also requesting that the UK scrap plans to deport European offenders under recent Home Office rules that permit foreign nationals to be removed once sentenced.
A British government source stated that the UK will not agree to the EU's demands regarding foreign criminal deportations, noting that member states have not yet approved the requirements.
It comes as the EU’s former Brexit negotiator warned the prime minister that he will not be able to rejoin its single market "à la carte", adding: “there is no cherry picking.”
The comment came after Mr Burnham said rejoining the EU's internal market is among options he could pursue when reworking the UK’s relationship with the bloc.
Speaking on BBC's Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg, Michael Barnier said: "There will be no possibility to have one freedom and not the other. The four freedoms are clearly the four conditions to be inside a single market".