- PM given until September 30 to submit alternative to the Irish border backstop
- Emmanuel Macron and Finnish PM Antti Rinne discussed it at Paris meeting
- Rinne said both were ‘concerned about what is happening in Britain right now’
Boris Johnson has reportedly been given just 12 days to present the European Union with a viable Brexit deal or prepare for a No Deal Brexit.
The Prime Minister has been given until September 30 to submit an alternative to the Irish border backstop in writing to Brussels.
The ultimatum was hammered out at a meeting between French president Emmanuel Macron and Finnish PM Antti Rinne in Paris today, reports in Finland claim.
However it is unclear if the deadline will be backed by other European leaders, who would have to come on board with it to enable it to carry any legal weight.
Mr Macron has long been concerned about the time Brexit is taking and has previously spoken against any more extensions.
Mr Rinne, whose country holds the EU council presidency, is reported to have told reporters after the Paris meeting: ‘We are both concerned about what is happening in Britain right now and the confusion that is going on from there to Europe.’
The ultimatum was hammered out at a meeting between French president Emmanuel Macron and Finnish PM Antti Rinne in Paris today, reports in Finland claim
Mr Juncker (pictured today) said his lunch with Boris Johnson in Luxembourg this week had been ‘friendly’, but he warned he could not ‘look you in the eye and tell you progress has been achieved’.
The deadline is likely to create uproar in Westminster with Parliament shut down.
It also falls in the middle of the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, providing an additional headache for Mr Johnson.
It came after Jean-Claude Juncker had earlier trolled Boris Johnson over the bitter row over suspending the Commons – saying the European Parliament is ‘open and in action’.
The EU commission chief delivered the jibe as he gave a speech to MEPs in Strasbourg updating them on the Brexit process.
Mr Juncker said his lunch with Boris Johnson in Luxembourg this week had been ‘friendly’, but he warned he could not ‘look you in the eye and tell you progress has been achieved’.
Again warning against the harmful consequences of a no-deal Brexit, EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier said during the debate he wants to keep working ‘night and day’ in order to find a satisfying deal for both parties and urged Johnson and his team to make concrete proposals.
Mr Juncker told MEPs: ‘I said to Prime Minister Johnson that I have no emotional attachment to the safety net, to the backstop, but I stated that I stand by the objectives that it is designed to achieve.
‘That is why I called on the Prime Minister to come forward with operational proposals, in writing, for practical steps which would allow us to achieve those objectives.
‘Until such time as those proposals have been presented I will not be able to tell you, looking you straight in the eye, that any real progress has been achieved.’
He added: ‘Over the past years, the EU has shown great unity of purpose in the Brexit negotiations. Great solidarity with those Member States most affected.
‘Unity is our most precious resource and our greatest asset. It will continue to guide me over the next weeks.’
Mr Juncker said there was ‘very little time remaining’ to find a way through the impasse.
This evening Downing Street revealed Mr Juncker spoke to the Prime Minister after the address, where they ‘discussed the positive and constructive conversation they had in Luxembourg on Monday and their shared determination to reach a deal’.
Mr Johnson (pictured today at a hospital in London) has been given 12 days to hand in a working plan to replace the Brexit backstop
The deadline is said to have been pushed by Mr Macron, who has long complained about the time it has taken to get the UK out of the EU
Nigel Farage rages at ‘pipsqueak’ Luxembourg PM for trying to humiliate Britain as cheering Brexit Party MEPs are told to SHUT UP by the EU Parliament’s Speaker
Nigel Farage delivered an excoriating barrage at EU ‘pipsqueaks’ trying to humiliate Britain today during a stormy battle in the European Parliament.
The Brexit Party leader condemned the behaviour of Luxembourg PM Xavier Bettel and warned that the UK must go for a ‘clean break’ from the bloc.
The stinging assault came as Brexit Party MEPs were ordered to shut up by the chair of the debate as they heckled opponents.
At one point, vice-president Mairead McGuinness stopped proceedings to demand ‘are you finished’ to the 29-strong group.
One MEP shot back: ‘Are you inviting me to go on?’
But Ms McGuinness snapped: ‘I am in control.’
In the European Parliament today, Nigel Farage delivered a barrage at EU ‘pipsqueaks’ trying to humiliate Britain today during a stormy battle in the European Parliament
Mr Farage insisted that the UK must go for a ‘clean break’ from the EU rather than tweaking the Withdrawal Agreement
At one point, vice-president Mairead McGuinness stopped proceedings to demand ‘are you finished’ to the 29-strong group
Mr Farage said it was clear from the ’emollient’ comments by Mr Juncker that the two sides were ‘very close’ to a deal at the EU summit next month in Brussels
Kicking off the debate in Strasbourg this morning, Jean-Claude Juncker trolled Mr Johnson over the bitter row over suspending the Commons – saying the European Parliament is ‘open and in action’.
The EU commission chief delivered the jibe as he gave a speech to MEPs in Strasbourg updating them on the Brexit process.
Mr Juncker said his lunch with Mr Johnson in Luxembourg this week had been ‘friendly’, but he warned he could not ‘look you in the eye and tell you progress has been achieved’.
He insisted he was ready to work ‘day and night’ to get an agreement with the UK, but warned that the risk of No Deal was ‘palpable’.
A series of federalist MEPs rose to put the boot in over the decision to prorogue the UK Parliament until next month – the subject of a titanic legal showdown in the Supreme Court this week.
Guy Verhofstadt insisted Brexiteers could never again say that the European Parliament was undemocratic in light of the row.
And German MEP Manfred Weber taunted that Britain’s crisis was helping to show European voters that leaving the bloc is a ‘stupid idea’.
‘It’s not Britain that is leaving the EU… jobs and business have been leaving the UK,’ he said.
The swipes prompted fury from Brexit Party MEPs, who grew increasingly noisy as proceedings continued.
When his turn came, Mr Farage said it was clear from the ’emollient’ comments by Mr Juncker that the two sides were ‘very close’ to a deal at the EU summit next month in Brussels.
However, he said such an agreement would be bad for the UK as it would leave it reliant on the ‘good faith’ of the EU when it came to negotiating the future relationship, when it was clear from recent events that there was no such good faith.
‘I am of course referring to the pipsqueak prime minister of Luxembourg who set out to ritually humiliate a British prime minister in the most astonishing way, only to greeted as a hero by President Macron at the Elysee Palace,’ Mr Farage told the European Parliament.
‘The only way forward now is to deliver on the referendum is for a clean break Brexit.
‘Once we have done that we will have a grown-up conversation about trade and about the way forward.’
Mr Juncker trolled that the European Parliament was ‘open’ – although there were swathes of empty seats for the session in Strasbourg this morning
Brexit Party MEPS were out in force for the debate in the European Parliament today
After refusing to move a press conference away from noisy protests in Luxembourg on Monday, Xavier Bettel delivered a furious anti-Brexit rant against the backdrop of a Union flag, while gesturing at the empty podium set up for Mr Johnson (pictured).
source:dailymail