EU27 to ‘stick together’ after UK Brexit blueprint revealed
Angela Merkel has signalled that the EU27 will maintain a united front in response to Boris Johnson’s new Brexit proposals, published just minutes ago.
Speaking from Berlin, where she is hosting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Merkel said the text would be closely considered, adding: “It’s important that we stick together as 27,” the BBC reports.
Read more: Boris Johnson’s final Brexit offer to Brussels revealed
Johnson is expected to speak to Merkel this evening, as part of widespread engagement to support his heavily-anticipated offer.
He will also speak to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, and is expected to speak to French President Emmanuel Macron, Irish Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and European Council President Donald Tusk.
But Varadkar has indicated his scepticism, saying the proposals are “not promising” and do not form “the basis of an agreement”, Sky News reports.
Read more: Boris Johnson’s Get Brexit Done conference pledge
However, the DUP has signalled its support for Johnson’s new Brexit proposals, which they argue removes the need for a backstop.
The “final offer” was submitted to Brussels earlier today, shortly before being made more widely available.
They were accompanied with a letter from the Prime Minister to European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker which attacked the backstop as “a bridge to nowhere” and said these new suggestions allowed for “a meaningful Brexit, in which UK trade policy is fully under UK control from the start”.
Following a phone call between the pair, the Commission issued a statement saying Juncker “welcomed Prime Minister Johnson’s determination to advance the talks ahead of the October European Council and make progress towards a deal”.
While Juncker acknowledged “positive advances”, particularly the full regulatory alignment for all goods and the control of goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain, he flagged “some problematic points that will need further work in the coming days, notably with regards to the governance of the backstop”.
“The delicate balance struck by the Good Friday Agreement must be preserved,” the Commission said.
Another concern that needs to be addressed are the substantive customs rules.
The legal text will be examined “objectively, and in light of our well-known criteria”, a spokesman said.
“The EU wants a deal. We remain united and ready to work 24/7 to make this happen – as we have been for over three years now.”
DUP leader Arlene Foster was quick to tweet her support, issuing a statement that said:
These proposals, which are entirely consistent with the sprit and principles of the Belfast Agreement, demonstrate commitment to working with our neighbours in the Republic of Ireland in a spirit of mutual co-operation whilst respecting the integrity of Northern Ireland’s economic and constitutional position within the United Kingdom. They also protect the integrity of the institutions created by the Belfast and St Andrews Agreements.
They ensure democratic consent to the specific alignment proposals both before they enter into force and thereafter on an ongoing basis and they respect the democratic decision of the UK, of which Northern Ireland is a part.
But while the DUP, which has 10 seats in Parliament, is likely to encourage the ERG “Spartans”, the confidence and supply agreement struck under Theresa May no longer makes up the numbers the government requires to get a deal passed.
Conservative MPs Phillip Lee and Sam Gyimah have both defected to the Liberal Democrats, while 21 Tories were effectively sacked after voting against the government.
Opposition parties are already positioning themselves to block any deal that might filter back to Westminster.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told journalists his proposals were “worse than Theresa May’s deal”.
“I can’t see it getting the support he thinks it will get,” Corbyn added. “It will take us into a regime in Britain of deregulation, of undercutting, and I think it will also undermine the Good Friday Agreement.”
He said the “specific intention to deregulate” was one of his key concerns with the text.
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: “Hard to see how the UK government Brexit ‘proposals’ fly. And hard to escape conclusion that they’re designed to fail.
“For Scotland, the fundamental point remains – these proposals would take us out of the EU, single market and customs union against our will. That’s unacceptable.”
The Liberal Democrats’ Brexit spokesman Tom Brake added: “Boris Johnson’s ‘fair and reasonable compromise’ to maintain open borders in Northern Ireland and honour the Good Friday Agreement is to … create two borders One between Northern Ireland and Great Britain and the other between Northern Ireland and Ireland.
“Less than 30 days until Conservatives want to crash us out, and we’re still hearing that ‘technology’ will solve all problems at the Irish border. What is the cost, lead time and success rate of installing ‘tech’?”
Main image: Getty