Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team EU holds summit without UK to formalise Brexit strategy… European Union countries are meeting in Brussels to discuss a joint strategy for negotiations with the UK over Brexit… The EU will insist that progress must be made in talks on separating the UK from the EU, before any discussions can begin about future trade relations… In a letter to leaders of the EU-27, European Council President Donald Tusk says agreement on “people, money and Ireland” must come before negotiations on the EU’s future relationship with the UK. The UK government has said it does not want to delay talks on future trade relations. Mr Tusk’s letter – calling for a “phased” approach to Brexit – echoed German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s priorities, which she set out on Thursday… “We will not discuss our future relations with the UK until we have achieved sufficient progress on the main issues relating to the UK’s withdrawal from the EU,” he said. – BBC News …with Dublin seeking agreement on automatic EU membership for Northern Ireland if it decided to reunify with Ireland… EU leaders are set to pave the way for automatic membership for Northern Ireland if it decides to reunify with Ireland in the wake of Brexit. Dublin is expected to ask the bloc’s 27 leaders to endorse the idea when they gather in Brussels on Saturday – without Britain – to adopt the EU’s guidelines for exit negotiations, according to multiple reports. “We expect Ireland to ask on Saturday for a statement to be added to the minutes of the European Council, which states that in case of a unification of the island in accordance with the Good Friday Agreement, the united Ireland would be a member of the EU,” an EU Council source told the AFP news agency. “We do not expect a change of the guidelines themselves, but only a statement to the minutes” of the meeting, they added, on condition of anonymity. – Sky News EU accused of ‘outrageous’ attempt to threaten future of Union by using Northern Ireland as Brexit bargaining chip – Daily Telegraph Spain ‘not worried’ about united Ireland joining the EU – EurActiv European Council will nod to prospect of united Ireland – Politico …and EU leaders increasingly confident that May will accept their demands European Union leaders sense that Theresa May will surrender to their divorce demands rather than walk away in a “no deal” scenario leading to a disorderly Brexit. EU officials and diplomats have received private assurances and noted that the prime minister has dropped a pledge, made in January, that “no deal is better than a bad deal for Britain”. Her decision to hold a general election has been interpreted by the EU as a recognition that she will need to bolster her parliamentary majority and secure her government until 2022 in preparation for a politically toxic Brexit deal. – The Times (£) Wolfgang Schäuble: ‘No free lunch for UK’ after Brexit negotiations conclude – Sky News Brussels moves to increase Britain’s exit bill to plug EU’s budget black hole – Daily Express Macron renews calls to renegotiate Calais border treaty – Daily Telegraph Britain’s Brexit denial – David M. Herszenhorn and Jakob Hanke for Politico Theresa May to Japan: We’ll keep EU market access post-Brexit British Prime Minister Theresa May Friday sought to reassure Japanese investors in the U.K. that she would secure their position in the EU market through a trade deal with Brussels… May said after talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe that “the U.K. remains the best place in Europe to run and grow a business.” … “I have reaffirmed the U.K.’s desire for an enduring deep and special partnership with the EU, including a bold and ambitious free trade agreement,” May said. Nissan only announced it would build two new car models at a plant in Sunderland after government assurances it would remain competitive post-Brexit. Toyota committed to a £240 million investment at its plant in Derby with £21 million in government support. Both export to EU markets and employ thousands. – Politico World economy needs ‘smooth’ Brexit, says Japanese PM Shinzo Abe – Sky News Corbyn urges young voters to stop ‘Brexit for few’… Jeremy Corbyn will make a direct plea to young people to “step up” and register to vote. The Labour leader believes that more than two million young people who are missing from the electoral register could be key to his success… During a speech in east London, Mr Corbyn will question the Conservatives’ intentions over Brexit. He will cast scepticism over Theresa May’s plan for a trade deal with the US and he will accuse the Conservatives of preparing to deliver a deal which will only benefit the wealthy. – Sky News Labour’s Emily Thornberry demands the EU drop its ‘unacceptable’ bid to give the Spanish a Brexit veto over Gibraltar – The Sun Nearly half of all Labour voters prepared to desert the party as they lose both leave and remain support – Daily Telegraph May targets Hampstead Remainers – The Times (£) Tories ‘drop Conservative name in the north of England to capitalise on popularity of Theresa May’ – Daily Telegraph …as Paul Nuttall says UKIP is needed to stop Brexit ‘backsliding’ Paul Nuttall has said Brexit is a “job half done” and UKIP MPs are needed to “see this through to the end” as he launches his party’s election campaign. Mr Nuttall accused the prime minister of “backsliding” on immigration and said a “whopping Conservative majority” would “put Brexit in peril”. UKIP would fight seats across “the vast majority of the country” but would stand not against some pro-Brexit MPs. – BBC News Senior Tories are in talks over electoral pacts with Ukip against Theresa May’s orders – The Sun Tory MP Philip Hollobone signs unprecedented election pact with Ukip – Daily Telegraph (£) Why UKIP’s collapse matters – Matthew Goodwin and David Cutts for Politico Where UK’s parties stand on Brexit – BBC News Brexit: Sir Vince Cable warns of ‘second economic storm’ – Sky News Farron and Lib Dems are set for six weeks packed with fun – Matt Chorley for The Times (£) Don’t laugh off the Liberal Democrat threat just yet – Jeremy Corbyn makes them look good – Douglas Carswell for the Daily Telegraph (£) Retired doctor warns Theresa May of fresh court challenge over Brexit Theresa May has been warned of a fresh challenge in the courts over Brexit by a retired Scottish doctor who claims the law requires there to be a second referendum on any withdrawal agreement. Dr Andrew Watt has sent a letter before action – usually the first step in taking disputes to court – to the Prime Minister, arguing that Section 2 of the European Union Act 2011 requires a referendum before the UK can ratify any treaty that amends or replaces the EU or the functioning of the EU. The Act was designed to trigger a referendum in the event of a new EU treaty which would transfer powers to the bloc from the UK. But Dr Watt highlighted a section of the legislation which sets out that there must be a referendum if there is the “conferring on an EU institution or body of power to impose a requirement or obligation on the United Kingdom, or the removal of any limitation on any such power of an EU institution or body”. – Aberdeen Evening Express Ed Conway: The accidental rebalancing of the UK economy The odd thing is that if balance is the hallmark of economic success, Friday’s gross domestic product figures, which showed the UK economy growing by only 0.3% in the first quarter – the weakest rate since before the referendum – are a triumph. Look at the breakdown: the manufacturing sector grew by a healthy 0.5%. Indeed, far from dropping into recession in the past two quarters, it has had the best six months for two years. The construction sector grew by 0.2% and services, the sector Britain has become so reliant on in recent years, grew by 0.3% – the weakest rate in two years… Though it’s not altogether clear that the dip in retail sales and services charted in the latest GDP figures is actually about rebalancing. It may just be a temporary consumer slowdown… Is it the Brexit effect? Well, probably a bit. The fall in the pound after the referendum has exacerbated that real wage squeeze which, in turn, has discouraged people from spending. Then again, there has been no recession – far from it. The UK economy may not be whizzing along at the moment, but it is, for the time being, still growing faster than most other European economies. – Ed Conway for Sky News UK economic growth shows weakest growth since Brexit vote – Sky News GDP up 2.1% on the year – John Redwood’s Diary Yanis Varoufakis: ‘My Brexit advice to Theresa May is to avoid negotiating at all costs’ Theresa May might balk at taking advice from a radical Greek Leftist and motorcycling heart-throb of the European protest movement, but nobody knows better than Yanis Varoufakis what it means to take on the EU power structure… Prof Varoufakis, a specialist on economic “Game Theory”, says Britain must not let itself be captured by the EU’s negotiating net. If the UK succumbs to that fate, it will be beaten down by one humiliating defeat after another in a slow campaign of attrition. The EU will exploit Britain’s political divisions, playing off regions and parties against each other… It is a regime that knowingly persisted in imposing ruinous policies on his country against economic science and logic. A benign union it is not. “The parallel with Brexit is the tactic of stalling negotiations. They will get you on the sequencing. First there is the price of divorce to sort out before they will talk about free trade in the future,” he said. – Ambrose Evans-Pritchard interviews Yanis Varoufakis for the Daily Telegraph (£) German finance minister Schäuble ‘admitted he would not sign Greek austerity deal’ if traded places, claims Yanis Varoufakis – Daily Telegraph (£) How Yanis Varoufakis tried – and failed – to win forgiveness for Greece’s debts from Europe’s ‘deep establishment’ – Yanis Varoufakis book extract in the Daily Telegraph (£) Alan Cochrane: Mystery remains over SNP policy on referendum and EU The unalloyed enthusiasm for Europe, long evident in Nat ranks, has been severely tested by the fact that a helluva lot of SNP supporters voted for Brexit last year. How to cope with them has been a major headache for Ms Sturgeon, leading to a suspicion of a watering-down of the pledge to seek immediate EU readmission if Scotland becomes independent. But if that’s puzzling the voters, a couple of Nat MPs have gone the whole hog and, although they won’t admit it, are backing a policy that makes membership of the EU impossible. Mike Weir in Angus and Eilidh Whiteford in Banff and Buchan have backed a move to protect Scottish fishermen from the rules of the Common Fisheries Policy if the SNP gets its way and an independent Scotland rejoins the EU. But as all their opponents screamed with one voice yesterday – it is simply impossible to be a member of the EU and not submit to the CFP. The First Minister insisted that SNP policy was perfectly clear – Scotland would rejoin the EU and then seek to reform the CFP from within. “Well, good luck with that,” I’m sure I heard the ghosts of past British fisheries ministers muttering about the impossibility of such a task. – Alan Cochrane for the Daily Telegraph (£) Brexit comment in brief We don’t have to be in the EU to be pals with Europe as Britain’s Brexit deal can benefit all – Daniel Hannan MEP for The Sun Brexit Britain can’t thrive without cheap energy. We need a bonfire of green regulations – Charles Moore for the Daily Telegraph (£) Will the general election give Tory backbenchers their big break? – Simon Heffer for the New Statesman Across Europe the populist revolt is not in retreat. It’s on pause – Charles Krauthammer for the Daily Telegraph (£) We in the EU intend to protect our citizens’ rights after Brexit – Sophia In ‘t Veld MEP for The Independent How will Brexit affect our Eurovision chances? – Charlotte Runcie for the Daily Telegraph (£) Brexit news in brief Battle for EU agencies may erode EU unity pre-Brexit – EurActiv How the EU trapped itself into a no-break €500m lease in Britain – Politico Iain Duncan Smith sees rational Brexit negotiations ahead (video) – Bloomberg Scotch Whisky exports jump – Bloomberg Britons could lose holiday health cover in Europe after Brexit, says Health Select Committee – The Guardian Goldman Sachs planning to start moving UK staff on Brexit in 2018 – Bloomberg Hillary Clinton plan to save EU: Democrat plotted to meddle in European politics to shore up bloc – Daily Express