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Britain’s May in Berlin to plead case for new Brexit delay

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BERLIN — Prime Minister Theresa May brought her case for a further delay to Britain’s departure from the European Union to Berlin on Tuesday, while German and French officials insisted that any extension to the deadline must come with strings attached and assurances from London.

May and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met for about an hour and a half, shaking hands for photographers but making no remarks to reporters. The German government had no comment on the outcome of the talks. May was headed to Paris later to meet French President Emmanuel Macron, who has appeared to take a harder line on cutting Britain more slack.

Britain’s partners in the 28-nation European Union say they want clarity from May about what she will do to break the Brexit logjam if another delay is granted. Officials are signalling that they’re not keen to give Britain a blank check, though they also want to avoid a chaotic Brexit later this week.

Michael Roth, Germany’s deputy foreign minister, said as he arrived at an EU meeting in Luxembourg that “we are in a very, very frustrating situation here.” But he also said that a disorderly Brexit would be “the worst of all options on the table.”

May’s Conservative government and the main opposition Labour Party have been trying to find a compromise Brexit deal before EU leaders decide Wednesday whether to grant a second extension to the U.K.’s departure. If they refuse, Britain faces a sudden departure on Friday, the deadline set a few weeks ago by the EU. The country was originally supposed to leave on March 29.

May has asked for a new delay until June 30.

“We expect finally to have substantial steps in the right direction — so far absolutely nothing has changed,” Roth said. “We are of course considering an extension, also a longer extension, but it must be linked to very strict criteria,” he added, insisting that Britain can’t speculate about not participating in the May 23-26 elections for the European Parliament.

Roth said that “within the European Union, there isn’t an endless readiness to keep talking about delays so long as there is no substantial progress on the British side.”

European Council President Donald Tusk has urged the 27 remaining EU nations to offer the U.K. a flexible extension of up to a year to make sure the nation doesn’t leave the bloc in a chaotic way that could undermine trade and hurt many EU nations.

France’s European affairs minister, Amélie de Montchalin, said the 27 will need commitments from May that the British government will continue to play a constructive role in EU decision-making if a long extension is to be granted.

“We have the question what role Britain wants to play” if such an extension is granted, she said.

In Britain, some have suggested that the government should seek to undermine EU policymaking as a way to get more leverage for the U.K. Roth also called for “loyal and constructive behaviour” by the British government.

Half a dozen countries planned to co-ordinate their approach ahead of the Brussels summit. An official who asked not to be identified because the informal meeting was not officially announced said leaders of France, the Netherlands, Ireland, Belgium, Sweden and Denmark would discuss options hours ahead of Wednesday’s dinner summit.

Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney said that officials in other EU countries “will want to encourage” the Conservative-Labour talks in London.

“But they’ll also want to see a clear plan in terms of how an extension can deliver the result that we all want, which is a managed and sensible Brexit.”

In Britain, Justice Secretary David Gauke told the BBC it was too early to say whether the talks would be successful but work was continuing to identify a compromise. He said people involved “are telling me that the process is being undertaken in a genuine and sincere way from both sides.”

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Raf Casert in Brussels and Danica Kirka in London contributed to this report.

Geir Moulson, The Associated Press














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Kananaskis G7 meeting the right setting for U.S. and Canada to reassert energy ties

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Energy security, resilience and affordability have long been protected by a continentally integrated energy sector.

The G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, offers a key platform to reassert how North American energy cooperation has made the U.S. and Canada stronger, according to a joint statement from The Heritage Foundation, the foremost American conservative think tank, and MEI, a pan-Canadian research and educational policy organization.

“Energy cooperation between Canada, Mexico and the United States is vital for the Western World’s energy security,” says Diana Furchtgott-Roth, director of the Center for Energy, Climate and Environment and the Herbert and Joyce Morgan Fellow at the Heritage Foundation, and one of America’s most prominent energy experts. “Both President Trump and Prime Minister Carney share energy as a key priority for their respective administrations.

She added, “The G7 should embrace energy abundance by cooperating and committing to a rapid expansion of energy infrastructure. Members should commit to streamlined permitting, including a one-stop shop permitting and environmental review process, to unleash the capital investment necessary to make energy abundance a reality.”

North America’s energy industry is continentally integrated, benefitting from a blend of U.S. light crude oil and Mexican and Canadian heavy crude oil that keeps the continent’s refineries running smoothly.

Each day, Canada exports 2.8 million barrels of oil to the United States.

These get refined into gasoline, diesel and other higher value-added products that furnish the U.S. market with reliable and affordable energy, as well as exported to other countries, including some 780,000 barrels per day of finished products that get exported to Canada and 1.08 million barrels per day to Mexico.

A similar situation occurs with natural gas, where Canada ships 8.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day to the United States through a continental network of pipelines.

This gets consumed by U.S. households, as well as transformed into liquefied natural gas products, of which the United States exports 11.5 billion cubic feet per day, mostly from ports in Louisiana, Texas and Maryland.

“The abundance and complementarity of Canada and the United States’ energy resources have made both nations more prosperous and more secure in their supply,” says Daniel Dufort, president and CEO of the MEI. “Both countries stand to reduce dependence on Chinese and Russian energy by expanding their pipeline networks – the United States to the East and Canada to the West – to supply their European and Asian allies in an increasingly turbulent world.”

Under this scenario, Europe would buy more high-value light oil from the U.S., whose domestic needs would be back-stopped by lower-priced heavy oil imports from Canada, whereas Asia would consume more LNG from Canada, diminishing China and Russia’s economic and strategic leverage over it.

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The MEI is an independent public policy think tank with offices in Montreal, Ottawa, and Calgary. Through its publications, media appearances, and advisory services to policymakers, the MEI stimulates public policy debate and reforms based on sound economics and entrepreneurship.

As the nation’s largest, most broadly supported conservative research and educational institution, The Heritage Foundation has been leading the American conservative movement since our founding in 1973. The Heritage Foundation reaches more than 10 million members, advocates, and concerned Americans every day with information on critical issues facing America.

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Poilievre on 2025 Election Interference – Carney sill hasn’t fired Liberal MP in Chinese election interference scandal

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From Conservative Party Communications

Yes. He must be disqualified. I find it incredible that Mark Carney would allow someone to run for his party that called for a Canadian citizen to be handed over to a foreign government on a bounty, a foreign government that would almost certainly execute that Canadian citizen.

 

“Think about that for a second. We have a Liberal MP saying that a Canadian citizen should be handed over to a foreign dictatorship to get a bounty so that that citizen could be murdered. And Mark Carney says he should stay on as a candidate. What does that say about whether Mark Carney would protect Canadians?

“Mark Carney is deeply conflicted. Just in November, he went to Beijing and secured a quarter-billion-dollar loan for his company from a state-owned Chinese bank. He’s deeply compromised, and he will never stand up for Canada against any foreign regime. It is another reason why Mr. Carney must show us all his assets, all the money he owes, all the money that his companies owe to foreign hostile regimes. And this story might not be entirely the story of the bounty, and a Liberal MP calling for a Canadian to be handed over for execution to a foreign government might not be something that the everyday Canadian can relate to because it’s so outrageous. But I ask you this, if Mark Carney would allow his Liberal MP to make a comment like this, when would he ever protect Canada or Canadians against foreign hostility?

“He has never put Canada first, and that’s why we cannot have a fourth Liberal term. After the Lost Liberal Decade, our country is a playground for foreign interference. Our economy is weaker than ever before. Our people more divided. We need a change to put Canada first with a new government that will stand up for the security and economy of our citizens and take back control of our destiny. Let’s bring it home.”

 

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