Sign up here to receive the daily news briefing in your inbox every morning with exclusive insight from the BrexitCentral team UK and EU agree to ‘accelerate efforts’ on Brexit after Brussels dinner… Following a working dinner in Brussels on Monday night, Mrs May and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker described a “constructive and friendly” exchange as they prepared for a crunch EU summit this week. In a joint statement, they said: “The Prime Minister and the president of the European Commission reviewed the progress made in the Article 50 negotiations so far and agreed that these efforts should accelerate over the months to come.” – Sky News May’s goals were two-fold, according to U.K. officials familiar with the government’s strategy. First, and most pressing, the prime minister wanted to ensure there was no further backsliding in the European Council’s draft conclusions ahead of the summit of EU leaders on Thursday… The prime minister’s second goal for the dinner… was to communicate to Barnier, Juncker and Selmayr that she cannot make any further concessions in negotiations following her speech in Florence, where she set out of series of offers on financial contributions and citizens’ rights which she has argued need to be reciprocated. – Politico Joint statement by President Jean-Claude Juncker and Prime Minister Theresa May – European Commission Theresa May warns EU chiefs she will not give another inch on Brexit – The Sun ‘Accelerate’ – the word the Tories need – Laura Kuenssberg for BBC News May’s Brexit gambit leaves Brussels mystified – Tom McTague and David M. Herszenhorn for Politico Why Jean-Claude Juncker and Michel Barnier are Theresa May’s best hope of a successful Brexit – James Crisp for the Telegraph (£) …but Germany and France harden position on European Court of Justice… But while Mrs May and Mr Juncker hailed the talks as “constructive and friendly”, the EU appeared to be hardening its position ahead of Thursday’s European Council summit. It emerged that EU leaders will formally demand that the European Court of Justice must oversee the rights of European citizens living in the UK after Brexit. The line was reportedly added to a leaked draft of conclusions for Thursday’s European Council summit at the request of Germany and France. The UK has said the court can have no oversight after Brexit. – Telegraph (£) France and Germany adopt tougher Brexit stance on role of European Court of Justice in citizens rights – Telegraph (£) Merkel and Macron toughen EU’s Brexit stance hours before May’s Brussels dinner – Express …sparking accusations they are deliberately stalling to squeeze a bigger payment out of Britain European leaders are deliberately stalling on a deal that would protect the rights of EU and British citizens after Brexit to wring further financial concessions from Theresa May, government sources claimed last night… In a sign of growing frustration in Whitehall, sources claimed that there was unwillingness on the EU side to finalise the deal. The aim was to maximise pressure on Mrs May over money while not being seen to put the EU’s financial interests over the rights of its citizens, the sources said. “Clearly it is not in the interests of the EU side to accept that it is now only money that is the sticking block to progress,” one Whitehall source said. “But in reality that is the situation. We could have wrapped up most of citizens’ rights by now but we are still waiting to hear their response to our proposals.” – The Times (£) May urges Merkel to end stand-off over Brexit – FT (£) EU’s ‘concern’ over citizens’ rights is a ‘smokescreen’ to squeeze more money out of UK, Government sources claim – Express Boris Johnson urges ‘serious conversations’ with EU on post-Brexit future… In Luxembourg for a meeting of EU foreign ministers, Johnson told reporters, “We think in the U.K. that is it time to get on with these negotiations.” … Johnson said that EU nationals in the U.K. and British nationals in the EU needed reassurance about their post-Brexit future: “We made a very good offer, very fair, and we think it is a reasonable point of view that we are outlining,” he said. “Let’s give them that reassurance, let’s put a tiger in the tank, let’s get these conversations going and stop letting the grass grow under our feet. We hope very much that our friends and partners will take that message and really begin to do some serious negotiations,” Johnson added. – Politico Hammond says Brexit deal ‘blindingly obviously’ in EU’s interest – Bloomberg …while Ministers said to fear collapse of talks ‘within weeks’ over EU’s unwillingness to strike a deal UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s government fears Brexit talks will break down unless the European Union (EU) gives ground at a key summit this week, according to a person familiar with her team’s views… Without a clear sign that negotiations will progress to trade and transition arrangements by December at Thursday’s summit of EU leaders, the entire Brexit process will be in danger of collapse — and senior British ministers are losing faith in the EU’s willingness to strike a deal, the person said. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the person familiar with the UK position said May took a political risk by promising to pay into the EU budget and settle the divorce bill in a speech in Florence, Italy, last month and now needs something in return before she can make further concessions. – Independent May faces rebellion over Brexit as MPs call for vote and transition deal Sources told the Guardian that politicians across parties have now agreed to rally around an amendment led by the former Tory attorney general, Dominic Grieve, which would require an act of parliament to formally enact Brexit. The amendment, which has been signed by eight Tories as well as several Labour and Lib Dem MPs, was seen as most specific in its wording… On transition, a number of Conservative politicians told the Guardian they were minded to back an amendment led by their colleague Ken Clarke and Labour’s Chris Leslie… Much of the co-ordination is being organised through an all-party parliamentary group on EU relations, which helped to ensure the election of soft Brexit MPs to lead key select committees, including Morgan at the Treasury and Tom Tugendhat at foreign affairs. The group, co-chaired by Labour’s Chuka Umunna and the Conservatives’ Anna Soubry, claims to have several hundred parliamentarians in support, with around a third of MPs receiving its briefings. – Guardian Ken Clarke: Parliament can stop a ‘no deal Brexit’ – The i Parliament is unable to walk away from a Brexit ‘no-deal’ – Simon Usherwood for The i Provision for No Deal is in the Conservative manifesto. A vote against it would thus be one of confidence. – Paul Goodman for ConservativeHome Government makes progress in Brexit talks with SNP but ‘power grab’ accusations remain Both sides admitted progress had been made after they agreed a set of principles to underpin the transfer of powers back from Europe. The agreement is the first between Whitehall and the devolved administrations since the UK voted to leave the EU last year. Damian Green, the First Secretary of State, who met the devolved administrations with David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, claimed afterwards that concerns that Westminster was seizing powers that should go straight to Edinburgh were now “behind us”. However, Scotland’s Brexit minister Mike Russell claimed the Withdrawal Bill still amounted to a power grab and Nicola Sturgeon would still recommend that Holyrood should refuse consent for the legislation as it stands. – Telegraph Brexit Britain can do a rapid trade deal with Australia, its government confirms Brexit Britain can do a trade deal with Australia in less than a year a half, their Government declared last night… Speaking in Central London, their top diplomat in the UK said it took 15 months for his country to do a trade deal with America and a similar agreement could be reached with Britain “very quickly”. But Alexander Downer warned if the UK started to “try to carve our industries” then the process would quickly come bogged down in “politics.” Addressing the Institute for Free Trade, alongside Environment Secretary Michael Gove, Mr Downer slammed the EU as “preposterously protectionist.” He said the controversial Common Agricultural Policy “does far more harm than good” and “has been hugely damaging to global agriculture.” And he hit out at scaremongering from Labour that a trade deal with Australia will hit British farmers. – The Sun City of London warns that businesses will leave Europe entirely without quick transition deal With patience wearing thin, industry lobby group TheCityUK has published a summary paper formally outlining its concerns surrounding a transitional deal. It is only the second time since the EU referendum that the group has released such a document, which it will use for future stakeholder meetings. “This isn’t just about business leaving the UK. It is about the very high risk of jobs, capital and inward investment leaving Europe entirely,” said Miles Celic, the chief executive of TheCityUK. – Telegraph City of London warns of need for quick Brexit transition deal – FT (£) Frankfurt doesn’t want London’s bankers – Steven Arons and Alessandro Speciale for Bloomberg > Connar McBain on BrexitCentral: The City of London is critical to the EU – and the EU knows it Prague poised to turn away from Brussels The Czech Republic is set to take a Euroskeptic turn in a general election this weekend — even though the EU has hardly featured in the campaign. Recent polls predict the maverick ANO movement and its founder, former Finance Minister Andrej Babiš, will be the election’s biggest winner with some 25 percent of the vote… If Czech voters decide to back an adamantly anti-EU candidate and join the ranks of fellow Euroskeptics Poland and Hungary, the outcome will further strain EU efforts to maintain a semblance of political cohesion. – Politico The Sun: Theresa May must keep Britain’s coffers closed until the EU agrees on its side of the bargain We cannot possibly offer billions (though Labour would cravenly write a cheque blind) without knowing what, if any, deal Brussels will agree in return. And, make no mistake, our money is all this stalemate is about. Citizens’ rights are effectively agreed. If after last night’s dinner Angela Merkel and President Macron still insist on playing hardball over cash, we will know for sure the talks are futile. Our Government does not want a “no deal” exit. Nor does The Sun . . . but France and Germany will be choosing that for both us and them. We will need to plan and fund it rapidly. – The Sun says Asa Bennett: Austria’s Sebastian Kurz has rejected the EU orthodoxy on Brexit – Brussels should listen Rather than dismiss Brexit voters airily as defeatists who hate Europe, Mr Kurz thinks that the continent’s leaders need to take their “fears and anxieties” seriously, declaring this March: “Brexit is a turning point in the history of the European Union…We therefore need to strengthen subsidiarity. The EU once again must withdraw from less important issues which the member states or regions can handle much better on their own.” He wants to clip the EU’s wings, and has been a voice of pragmatism on Brexit… He thinks the bloc could try and cut back spending (imagine it!) once Britain leaves instead of obsessing about squeezing every last euro out of it. “We need to compensate this loss with savings and reforms of the EU,” he declared. “Instead of raising the contributions of the net payers we should think about a leaner EU.” – Asa Bennett for the Telegraph (£) Theresa May should copy Austria and kick EU where it Kurz – Douglas Murray for The Sun Nick Gutteridge: Labour’s vow to veto ‘no deal’ Brexit may be pointless The EU is steadfastly opposed to the idea that Article 50 can be unilaterally revoked because, as Mr Barnier and MEPs fear, it could be “abused” not just by the UK but also other member states in the future. The ability to withdraw its notice to leave would, ironically, prove a big bargaining chip for Britain which could use it to ensure Brussels cannot offer too punitive an agreement. In reality, the prospect of the UK simply waltzing back into the club only to try its hand at leaving again a few years later presents even more of a nightmare scenario for EU leaders than it crashing out without a deal. And members like Poland and Hungary, who are engaged in a bitter battle with Brussels over migration, could use Article 50 as a blackmailing technique safe in the knowledge they would never have to go through with actually leaving. – Nick Gutteridge for the Express Christopher Howarth: The flurry of Withdrawal Bill amendments range from pointless to legally illiterate This Bill is necessary to Brexit. But it is not necessary to ensure Brexit happens; it will happen regardless, but the Bill is necessary to ensure Brexit happens in an orderly manner. It will place the 20,000 EU laws into UK domestic law ensuring legal certainty. If we left without the Bill it would be a genuine hard Brexit – potentially the greatest repeal of legislation in history… Parliamentary arithmetic being what it is, the Bill is becoming a great Christmas tree on which to hang a wide range of issues. This is indulgent; Parliament has limited time before the UK leaves the EU on 29th March 2019, the Commons and Lords need to ensure a workable Bill is passed. – Christopher Howarth for ConservativeHome Andrew Lilico: The short-term benefits of a no-deal Brexit If firms continue to export, they will pay tariffs. If prices were unchanged, such tariffs would simply be losses to exporting firms and gains to the national treasury of the importing country. Tariffs differ between products so it’s not quite as simple as saying whoever imports most will then pay most tariffs, but, in practice, the UK imports plenty of food and cars – the products on which tariffs tend to be highest – and exports plenty of zero-tariff services. So it’s reasonable to say that since the UK imports about £4 worth of products from the EU for every £3 it exports there, in this case a no FTA scenario leads in the short term to a gain (a gain, not a smaller loss) for the UK. – Andrew Lilico for CapX ‘No deal’ Brexit could cost families £500, claims report – The Times (£) The cost of a Brexit ‘no deal’ is diminishing – Matthew Lynn for the Spectator John O’Connell: Over-regulation, government bureaucracy and unnecessary taxes are bleeding Britons dry Families are also hit with the impact of EU food tariffs, which are in essence taxes on imported food. These food taxes put up the price of our weekly shop by nearly 17 per cent, and mean that Brits are spending more than they need to on basic necessities. For example, some meat products have tariffs as high as 88 per cent, which nearly doubles prices. Sadly, food taxes hit poorer families harder than anyone else in the UK. – John O’Connell for City A.M. Brexit in brief Humdrum politics has given way to epic battles. It’s good to be back – Nick Boles MP for The Times (£) The time to develop a bright vision for post-Brexit social reform is right now – Sam Gyimah MP for ConservativeHome Will plans to divide existing WTO quotas into the EU put other members at a disadvantage? – Shanker Singham vs Emily Redding for City A.M. Project Fear or Project Fact: Is Brexit as bad as the Remainers made out? – Annabelle Dickson for Politico Spreadsheet Phil’s fumbles show us a chancellor caught in the middle – Christian May for City A.M. The Brexiters’ war on the enemy within – Gideon Rachman for the FT (£) The time has come for Theresa May to tell the nation: Brexit can’t be done – Alastair Campbell for the Guardian Centrist MPs could save us from hard Brexit – but they’ve gone silent – Anand Menon for the Guardian Spanish court jails Catalan separatists pending sedition trial – Politico Two Catalan separatists in Spanish custody – BBC News Leading Maltese political journalist killed by car bomb – Politico