IT was supposed to be the “moment of truth” but ended up being 24 hours of Brexit inertia.
The Brussels caravan arrived and prepared to depart with Theresa May facing an even more intractable position.
After the acrimony of Salzburg and the hollow ring of the Prime Minister’s 15-minute pre-prandial presentation to her fellow leaders the night before, there was a clear attempt on the EU27’s part to be more cordial, more upbeat.
Donald Tusk, the European Council President, claimed there was a "much better mood" and even suggested that, despite the conundrum of the Irish border, "we're closer to final solutions and a deal".
Jean-Claude Juncker, the Commission President, chipped in, saying he was convinced “we’ll find a deal with Britain".
And even Mutti, Germany’s Angela Merkel, who had managed to find time for a glass of beer in a local pub, expressed hope of a breakthrough, telling reporters: "Where there is a will, there is usually a way." Usually.
But over at the French press conference, the EU’s bad cop was delivering to the Prime Minister a dose of Gallic reality, saying that, despite all the summit bonhomie, the fate of Brexit was now clearly in the Maybot’s hands and that she had to come up with a “political compromise”.
“It’s not for the EU to make concessions to deal with UK political issues. I couldn’t be clearer on this,” insisted Emmanuel Macron.
Mrs May has a canny ability to dead-bat virtually everything, so it is often in what she doesn’t say than what she does where the interest lies. When asked if she had privately told the Irish Government that the guarantee on the backstop had to be permanent - a key sticking point - she rambled on and dodged the question. Which probably means she did.
Having insisted the UK Government had not offered to extend the 21-month transition period, the PM accepted it was an option to give both sides more time to come up with a trade deal so the guarantee of a backstop would never be needed.
But it must be remembered it took the EU and Canada seven years to agree a trade deal.
The backlash against the suggested transition extension was inevitable. Tory Brexiteers branded it Brussels’ blackmail, warning it would mean billions more British taxpayers’ money flowing into EU coffers as the country effectively remained in the customs union and single market.
Time is now running short. Mrs May knows any deal has to get Westminster approval by the time the Commons rises on December 20. No 10 reassuringly said there were no plans to cancel Christmas. But something has to give.
The parliamentary arithmetic leans towards a soft Brexit.
The fudge-makers need to get a move on.
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