UK Prime Minister Theresa May will tell the European Union that the bloc “has to make a choice,” seeking to ensure legally-binding changes to the bilateral Brexit deal with regard to the Irish backstop, media have reported, citing pre-released extracts of the prime minister’s upcoming speech.
“Just as MPs will face a big choice next week, the EU has to make a choice too. We are both participants in this process. It is in the European interest for the UK to leave with a deal. We are working with them but the decisions that the EU makes over the next few days will have a big impact on the outcome of the vote,” May will say on Friday, as cited by Sky News.
In January, UK lawmakers rejected the existing version of the UK-EU Brexit deal, citing fears that the United Kingdom might remain in a permanent customs union with the bloc should the backstop policy, aimed at preventing a hard border on the island of Ireland, remain in its current form.