EU Moves on to Wargaming How to Reset Relations After No-Deal

(Bloomberg) --

The European Union has shifted its Brexit focus to what its approach to the U.K. should be after a no-deal crash-out, including the conditions it will set to restart negotiations, according to two EU officials.

Envoys from the EU’s 27 remaining nations met in Brussels on Thursday amid pessimism that Prime Minister Theresa May will get her deal through Parliament in a third attempt this week. If she doesn’t, the EU has given the U.K. until April 12 to leave without agreement or request an extension of many months.

There’s a growing feeling across the EU that governments are now braced for the prospect of no-deal and the economic shocks it may bring. The bloc has pushed through a series of basic measures in areas such as aviation and financial services to avoid the most catastrophic outcomes.

The EU ambassadors discussed forging a common position, including setting what the price would be when the U.K. wants to resume discussions after a no-deal exit. According to Thursday’s discussions, conditions would probably include a U.K. commitment to safeguard an open Irish border, the rights of citizens and paying unpaid bills to the EU’s central budget, the officials said.

Those are key components of the divorce deal that members of the U.K. Parliament have so far rejected.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ian Wishart in Brussels at iwishart@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net, Emma Ross-Thomas

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