European Union officials have insisted there will be no change in their stance on Britain’s departure from the bloc, despite Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s insistence that a new Brexit deal is possible.
The riposte came after Mr Johnson vowed not to meet with his fellow EU leaders unless they agreed to scrap the Irish border backstop, which was part of the Withdrawal Agreement negotiated in 2017 by his predecessor Theresa May.
“We can only repeat what we have said all along: the Withdrawal Agreement is not up for renegotiation,” said a European Commission spokeswoman.
Outgoing Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and other EU leaders have underlined that they will only consider ideas that are compatible with the Withdrawal Agreement.
Officials have proposed an amendment to the political declaration on the future EU-UK relationship. But they also point out that one of the suggestions, a stand-still transition period after the UK leaves the EU on October 31, will be granted only if the Withdrawal Agreement is fully ratified by parliament.
The stand-off came as the Commission and the Downing Street traded barbs over their respective preparations for a no-deal Brexit in the wake of a report by the CBI that claimed that neither side had done enough to ward off the potential damage of Britain crashing out of the bloc.
The Commission reiterated that while an orderly withdrawal is in interests of both sides, the EU is well-prepared for a no-deal Brexit, having already begun planning more than a year ago for such an outcome.
Indeed, the planning covers both EU activities, and those by national governments in the other 27 member countries – with the Netherlands launching a colourful awareness campaign on the risks associated with a no-deal Brexit.
The Commission’s own actions are designed to soften the impact on EU businesses and citizens in areas such as transport rights and fishermen’s access to fishing waters.
However, some EU members have warned that too much mitigation of the worst consequences would create the impression that a no-deal Brexit is manageable and acceptable.
At the same time, EU Budget Commissioner Günther Oettinger warned that no-one would want to do business with a ‘Global Britain’ that does not pay its Brexit divorce bill.
He was speaking after Mr Johnson repeated his threat not to hand over the £39 billion financial settlement to Brussels.
“If he is serious with these statements, it would jeopardize the credit rating of the United Kingdom,” Mr Oettinger said.
