Interesting analysis of Salzburg by Irish correspondent

https://www.rte.ie/news/analysis-and-comment/2018/0921/995292-salzburg-chronic-misreading/

"...It’s important to remember the context of the Chequers publication. In July, Theresa May was barely surviving week-to-week; Tory hardliners were circling; her foreign secretary and Brexit secretary resigned along with a handful of junior ministers; the government was forced into voting for a slew of amendments which contradicted its own strategy. One of those amendments rendered the Irish backstop virtually illegal.  The EU looked on helplessly. Member states even decided to suppress a set of European Commission Task Force slides that spelled out in stark detail the cost to the EU over time of allowing the UK to go its own way on services, yet stay aligned to the single market for goods and agriculture - one of the planks of Chequers. This was done expressly to give Mrs May a helping hand. She barely clung on till the summer recess, but there was a hope that after the summer break, fresher minds might prevail as we headed to the autumn showdown. But summer came and went and the Tory dynamic was back with a vengeance. Local conservative associations were up in arms over Chequers. Boris Johnson was throwing down weekly gauntlets as his stock among the grassroots rose. By late August, the British press was convinced that Salzburg would be a pivotal moment. Theresa May would appeal to EU leaders over the head of the doctrinaire Michel Barnier and they would change the chief negotiator’s mandate to give her a deal on the backstop and Chequers...."

Interesting read about the tactical progression.


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