EU leaders prepare for Theresa May to trigger Article 50 within days… European leaders are preparing for formal Brexit negotiations to begin within days should Theresa May trigger Article 50 next week. EU leaders, meeting in Brussels, were told to prepare for the possibility that Britain could trigger talks as early as next Tuesday, with a formal gathering on 6 April pencilled in to respond to Britain’s formal letter of notification… Meanwhile, in the UK, Mrs May has scheduled a major Commons statement on Tuesday, raising Brexiteers’ hopes she might use it to formally trigger Brexit… The EU Notification of Withdrawal Bill will return to the House of Commons on Monday – after its passage through the House of Lords – and could be voted through as early as Monday evening – giving the Prime Minister the opportunity to formally trigger Article 50 on Tuesday. – Sky News Theresa May could trigger Article 50 as early as Tuesday after EU leaders begin preparations for Brexit – Daily Telegraph How is Article 50 triggered? – Daily Telegraph What date will Article 50 be triggered and is it irrevocable? – Daily Telegraph …with ministers in talks with backbenchers to ensure smooth passage of the Bill by Tuesday… Ministers are in private negotiations with senior Conservative backbenchers to smooth the way for Article 50 to be triggered as soon as Tuesday. Pro-European MPs have told whips that they want David Davis, the Brexit secretary, to pledge that parliament will have a “meaningful” vote on any deal with the European Union when he opens the Article 50 debate on Monday. They also want him to reiterate the government’s intention to protect the rights of EU citizens living in the UK if no deal is reached. They have made clear that if concessions are made on these two points they will vote against the amendments to the bill that have been passed by the Lords. – The Times (£) Labour Party makes last-ditch plea to PM Theresa May to approve peers’ Brexit bill changes – Evening Standard …as Jean-Claude Juncker says he hopes that Britain will rejoin the EU at some point in the future Mr Juncker, the most senior official in Brussels, said he did not like Brexit because he wanted “to be in the same boat as the British”. “The day will come when the British will re-enter the boat, I hope,” he said following an EU summit. Former UKIP leader Nigel Farage said: “The ship will have sunk by then.” … Prime Minister Theresa May attended the Brussels meeting on Thursday, but left early as the remaining 27 members stayed on to discuss the future of the European Union… European Council President Donald Tusk said the EU would be ready to respond within two days of Mrs May triggering Brexit: “We are well prepared for the whole procedure and I have no doubt that we will be ready in 48 hours.” – BBC News Jean-Claude Juncker hopes Britain will ‘re-enter the boat’ – Sky News ‘Hard Brexit’ could cost Spain €1bn, leaked report says – The Guardian Giving Britons right to buy EU citizenship ‘should be priority’, says Verhofstadt – The Times (£) We’ve been offered an olive branch on EU citizenship. Don’t let them swat it aside – Open Britain chairman Roland Rudd for The Guardian Guy Verhofstadt is playing politics with his ‘special arrangement’ offer to Brits – Tom Goodenough for The Spectator Coffee House ‘Where was UK?’ asks furious Poland as it accuses Theresa May of humiliating Warsaw in EU summit showdown Poland has slammed Britain’s refusal to support them in a diplomatic showdown in Brussels, casting a long shadow over UK efforts to enlist Poland as a key ally in the coming Brexit negotiations. “Where was the UK in Brussels?” fumed Witold Waszczykowski, the Polish foreign minister in a message to The Telegraph hours after Europe had inflicted a humiliating 27-1 defeat on Poland by re-electing Donald Tusk as president of the European Council in defiance of Polish objections. – Daily Telegraph (£) Poland blasts Germany over election of Tusk and says EU disintegrating – Daily Express EU summit: Poland cries blackmail over subsidies – BBC News How Poland’s Szydlo fought the EU and lost – EUObserver Multispeed Europe: the EU’s ‘Loch Ness monster’ – Maïa de la Baume for Politico EU struggles with multi-speed idea – EUObserver Chaos at Brexit summit as Poland vows to veto Merkel masterplan, causing blazing row with France – Daily Express New Europe, same battles – David M. Herszenhorn for Politico Peter Foster: This unseemly EU spat with Poland could not have come at a worse time In practice, Mrs May had no choice but to side with the 26 member states against an increasingly isolated and erratic Polish government – EU diplomats said it would be “political suicide” if Mrs May sided openly with the bad boy of Europe – but that does not mean Poland will see it that way. As the fuming comment by the Polish foreign minister suggests, Poland will feel let down by Britain which has done much to curry favour with Warsaw ahead of Brexit talks, knowing that Poland shares Britain’s vision of a Europe based around the primacy of the nation state… The risk for Britain is that if Poland continues in this angry and distracted vein, the much-vaunted new UK-Polish relationship may shift from being a potential diplomatic asset in the coming talks, to a something of a liability. – Peter Foster for the Daily Telegraph (£) Canada’s trade minister hopes for free trade “continuity” after Brexit Brexit Britain was promised cheaper lobsters – and cut-price maple syrup – by Canada’s trade minister yesterday. Francois Philippe Champagne said he hoped the UK copied the free trade deal agreed between his country and the EU when it strikes out alone. And he revealed he had met Trade Secretary Liam Fox three times to discuss future relationships. He said a deal would mean “more and better choice for consumers.” … He added: “While Britain is in the EU there will be a free trade agreement. We want continuity; this is in all countries’ best interests.” – The Sun Drive to replace UK-EU trade links with closer ties to Commonwealth – The Guardian How many deals will the Department for International Trade have signed by 2020? – Katy Balls for The Spectator Coffee House Trade and factory data suggest Brexit boost from weaker pound The data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the strongest growth in factory output in almost seven years – with the volume of goods for export rising at their best level for a decade… The ONS reported a 2.1% increase in factory output and an 8.7% leap in goods exports in the three months from November – the latter helping Britain’s trade deficit with the rest of the world narrow to £10.8bn in January. A revision to earlier figures covering the trade deficit in the fourth quarter also raised some cheer. – Sky News Niesr: UK GDP grew by 0.6 per cent in the three months to the end of February – City A.M. Former Remain chief Lord Rose urges Brits to get ‘100 per cent behind the Government’ on Brexit Tory peer and ex-Remain campaign chief Lord Rose has urged the nation to get “100 per cent behind the Government” on Brexit. In a startling intervention the former M&S boss – who headed up Stronger In – said it was time to rally behind Theresa May to “try to get the best possible deal”… Lord Rose said while he voted to Remain, Parliament should give Government the flexibility it wants to negotiate. He told the Sun: “It’s time to move away from the brouhaha and rhetoric and get down to hard negotiation.” … Lord Rose told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I didn’t vote for Brexit, but I’m absolutely 100% behind them. Now we’ve agreed to do it, let’s do it, let’s all pull behind the Government and try to get the best possible deal.” – The Sun Asa Bennett: Theresa May can’t rely on Angela Merkel for a good Brexit – she has her own pro-EU agenda David Cameron staked his entire renegotiation of Britain’s terms of membership on his relationship with her, but she made sure he didn’t come away with anything he could shout about during the referendum campaign. And now Theresa May hopes her German counterpart will help broker a good Brexit deal… Germany has dug in ahead of the Brexit negotiations, with Mrs Merkel sticking to the agreed EU lines… Previous British Prime Ministers have gone out of their way to woo her, but found themselves stung later on. Mrs May shouldn’t forget that. She may see Mrs Merkel as the way Britain can secure a good Brexit, but she must remember that her fellow vicar’s daughter has an agenda of her own. – Asa Bennett for the Daily Telegraph (£) Brexit comment in brief The Lord of the Rings is our Brexit guide – people need a home to come back to – Charles Moore for the Daily Telegraph (£) Be nice to our EU friends, we need them to pour the drinks – Matt Chorley for The Times (£) Citizens of nowhere? It’s time we recognised the vital contribution made by EU students – Rebecca Hughes for the Daily Telegraph Lame duck or eurosceptic: France is in trouble whoever wins the presidency – Francine Lacqua for City A.M. Dutch election 2017 latest polls: Who will win the election in the Netherlands next week? – Alice Foster for the Daily Express Brexit news in brief Home Office challenges SNP: Scotland already has immigration flexibility but rarely needs it – Daily Telegraph Day of Action: Pro-EU campaigners Open Britain hold biggest nationwide push since Brexit referendum – The Independent Ireland’s Enda Kenny backs charging UK for EU divorce – Sky News Bertie Ahern says Ireland not ‘mad enough’ to leave EU – Sky News