Theresa May to skip France in appeal to European leaders

British Prime Minister Theresa May was heading to Europe on Tuesday to seek last-minute concessions on her Brexit deal, after abandoning a vote at home. May was to meet leaders in Brussels, Berlin and The Hague, but was sidestepping Paris.

May met with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Tuesday morning before setting off for talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, European Union President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

Significantly, however, the British Prime Minister was not to meet French President Emmanuel Macron.

May's European tour comes a day after she admitted the deal would not have the backing of British parliament because of a clause relating to the border between Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK, and the Republic of Ireland, which remains in the EU.

May said she would ask for further pledges that neither the EU nor the UK  would use a “backstop” that would keep Britain in a customs union with the EU in the absence of a better way to avoid extensive checks on the border.

“I will now do everything I possibly can to secure further assurances,” May told MPs on Monday.

The decision to sidestep France comes at a time when Macron is busy dealing with the social unrest of the Yellow Vest protests .

But the French president also warned, as London and Brussels finalised the deal on 25 November, that the UK risked being left in the customs union unless it agreed to allow EU vessels the same access to British waters as they have now.

The issue has been contentious in ongoing dispute over fishing rights between France and the UK.

May's office retorted that such a threat, if carried out, would amount to a “breach of good faith” under the withdrawal agreement.

France warns no-deal Brexit is 'not unlikely'
Juncker told European Parliament in Strasbourg that he was “astonished” that May had been unable to win the support of MPs and warned that there would be no changes to the deal finalised between London and Brussels on 25 November .

“There is no room whatsoever for renegotiation,” Juncker said. “But of course there is room, if used intelligently, to give further clarification and further interpretations.”

France echoed warnings from Brussels that the deal could not be negotiated.

“The withdrawal agreement is the only one possible,” said Nathalie Loiseau, minister for European affairs.

“Our responsibility is to prepare for a 'no deal' because it's a hypothesis that is not unlikely,” Loiseau added, referring to the approaching date of 29 March 2019, when Britain would be due to leave the EU whether it approves a deal or not.

Ireland's foreign minister said the country would ramp up plans for a no-deal Brexit, including the recruitment of 1000 customs officials.

“We are now actively not only preparing for that, but taking actions to ensure that if necessary we will be ready on March 29 for Britain to leave the EU without a deal,” Simon Coveney said.

Donald Tusk said the 27 remaining EU leaders would discuss Brexit at the start of a summit that begins Thursday.