May to Re-Establish Desire for Brexit Transition Deal to European Business Chiefs

British Prime Minister Theresa May, Reuters
British Prime Minister Theresa May, Reuters
TT

May to Re-Establish Desire for Brexit Transition Deal to European Business Chiefs

British Prime Minister Theresa May, Reuters
British Prime Minister Theresa May, Reuters

British Prime Minister Theresa May will restate her desire for a two-year Brexit implementation period when she meets European business organizations on Monday, her office said in a statement.

“Mrs May will reiterate the UK’s commitment to securing an implementation period of around two years once Britain leaves the EU in March 2019,” the statement said.

According to Reuters, May has stepped up her engagement with businesses in recent months, regularly meeting with British lobby groups and senior executives.

Monday’s meeting would, for the first time, expand that program to include include representatives from industry groups from Germany, France, Italy, Spain and other member states as well as British and EU-wide organizations.

“(May) will ask the business experts from organizations including the CBI and BusinessEurope to share their input on how the UK and EU can continue to thrive side by side in industry and economic development,” the statement said.

“The Prime Minister will also reiterate her vision set out in Florence for a bold and deep economic partnership with the EU – one in which the UK continues to be a global, free trading nation and the strongest friend and partner to the EU.”

Ministers from the departments of Brexit, business and the finance ministry will also attend.



No Repeat of Jerusalem Incident Will Be Accepted, France Says

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot poses for photographers overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem, including the Dome of the Rock Mosque in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, right, from the Mount of Olives during his visit to Jerusalem, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP)
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot poses for photographers overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem, including the Dome of the Rock Mosque in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, right, from the Mount of Olives during his visit to Jerusalem, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP)
TT

No Repeat of Jerusalem Incident Will Be Accepted, France Says

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot poses for photographers overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem, including the Dome of the Rock Mosque in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, right, from the Mount of Olives during his visit to Jerusalem, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP)
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot poses for photographers overlooking the Old City of Jerusalem, including the Dome of the Rock Mosque in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, right, from the Mount of Olives during his visit to Jerusalem, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP)

A repeat of an incident in Jerusalem that saw armed Israeli security forces entering a property administered by France must never happen again, France's foreign minister said ahead of summoning Israel's envoy on Tuesday.

Two French security officials with diplomatic status were briefly detained on Nov. 7 after Jean-Noel Barrot was due to visit the compound of the Church of the Pater Noster on the Mount of Olives.

The site, one of four administered by France in Jerusalem, is under Paris' responsibility and it not the first time that problems have arisen over France's historic holdings in the Holy City.

"It is an opportunity for France to reiterate that it will not tolerate Israeli armed forces entering these areas, for which it (France) is responsible, for which it ensures protection," Barrot told France 24 television when asked what the ambassador would be told.

"And to strongly reaffirm that this incident must never happen again, meaning that Israeli forces enter armed and without authorization."

Israel's ambassador is due to meet Barrot's chief of staff at the foreign ministry on Tuesday.

Israel's foreign ministry has said that every visiting foreign leader is accompanied by its security personnel, a point that had been "clarified in advance in the preparatory dialogue with the French Embassy in Israel".

Diplomatic relations between France and Israel have worsened since President Emmanuel Macron called for an end to the supply to Israel of offensive weapons used in Gaza.

The French government also attempted to ban Israeli weapons' firms from exhibiting at a trade fair in Paris and has become increasingly uneasy over Israel's conduct in the wars in Gaza and Lebanon.