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Politics

18th Sep 2019

Boris Johnson given two week deadline from the EU to solve Brexit impasse

Alan Loughnane

Boris Johnson

All coming to a head.

EU leaders have given Boris Johnson an ultimatum to come up with a new Brexit plan by the end of September or face up to a no deal.

The two-week deadline to table a plan for replacing the Irish backstop was revealed as further details emerged of the prime minister’s visit to Luxembourg this week.

France’s president, Emmanuel Macron, and Finland’s prime minister, Antti Rinne, told reporters in Paris that they were both “concerned about what is happening in Britain”.

Finland currently hold the EU presidency while Macron has repeatedly taken the hardest line on the UK plan to withdraw from the EU.

“We are both concerned about what is happening in Britain right now,” Rinne said, according to The Guardian.

“We both agreed that it is now time for Boris Johnson to produce his own proposals in writing – if they exist. If no proposals are received by the end of September, then it’s over.”

The deadline gives Johnson 12 days to produce proposals to replace the Irish backstop, something he has stated repeatedly that he wants to replace, although no viable alternative has emerged from Johnson or his government.

No solution is in sight for the backstop and speaking on Wednesday in the European Parliament, European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker reiterated his commitment to the backstop if no alternatives are presented.

“I have no emotional attachment to the backstop,” he said. “But I made clear that I do have an intimate commitment to its objectives.”

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