Brexit: EU shoots down 'blustering' Boris Johnson's claims he wants new deal

‘There are no real negotiations going on in Brussels,’ MEP insists

The European Union has shot down “blustering” Boris Johnson’s claims he wants a new Brexit deal, revealing there have been “no real negotiations” in Brussels since he entered Downing Street.

The comments come after the prime minister suffered a crushing double defeat in the Commons, as MPs successfully pushed through a bill to block a no-deal Brexit and voted down his plan to hold a snap general election.

Since coming to power, Mr Johnson has insisted he wants a deal and would “step up the tempo” in negotiations over Britain’s withdrawal from the EU, but there are few signs of progress.

For weeks, the EU has been waiting for Mr Johnson to make a concrete suggestion on how to end the impasse over their divorce agreement.

But without any fundamental change of approach, the bloc is showing little willingness to grant another extension to Britain’s departure.

While the sides are holding technical-level talks aimed at finding a way forward, no new proposals have been made on the main sticking point – how to maintain a seamless and open border between EU member Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Mr Johnson’s hoped-for deal appears to be purely intended for domestic consumption to most EU ears.

“For the talks to make progress, we would need to receive concrete proposals that are compatible with the withdrawal agreement,” European Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva told reporters this week, after the first round of technical talks.

The commission is running Brexit negotiations on behalf of Britain’s 27 European partners.

Ms Andreeva said David Frost, Mr Johnson’s negotiator, and EU counterparts have agreed to meet again later this week.

Two further rounds are scheduled for next week, should there be anything to discuss, notably on the Irish border question.

Britain wants the backstop removed from the divorce agreement. The EU insists it must stay until a better way is found to ensure that no hard border is erected between two communities once plagued by conflict.

“For all the PM’s bluster about getting a deal, there are no real negotiations going on in Brussels, despite the EU’s door remaining wide open,” Philippe Lamberts, a member of the European parliament’s Brexit Steering Group and Greens Party leader, said after talks at the assembly with Michel Barnier, the EU’s Brexit negotiator.

“It’s quite clear that Johnson’s disingenuous strategy is designed to push the UK off a no-deal cliff-edge and to cement his own position regardless of the costs to the British people.”

Downing Street rejected a reported remark by Mr Barnier that there is “a state of paralysis” in talks with the UK.

The prime minister’s official spokesman on Thursday said: “I haven’t seen anything from Michel Barnier on the record but, in any event, I would completely reject that assessment. Both sides agree to continue talks tomorrow after constructive discussions yesterday and we have seen from EU leaders that there is a willingness to find and agree solutions to the problems we have with the old deal.”

Beyond differences of opinion over the pace of Mr Johnson’s “blustering” negotiations agenda, the EU is reluctant to consider any Brexit extension beyond 31 October. The original deadline was 29 March and that has been extended twice to the current Brexit date.

British politicians are well on course to enact a law that would compel the government to seek a delay rather than crash out without an agreement on Halloween; a move with heavy economic and political costs.

That delay could last three more months.

French president Emmanuel Macron argued in April when the latest extension was approved that a long delay could weaken the EU’s institutions and undermine the way the bloc operates. He has opposed repeated extensions, saying the EU must not be “trapped in the Brexit’s uncertainty”.

Meeting Mr Johnson in Paris last month, he reaffirmed his priority was “to protect the European project”. He also told reporters he sees no reason to grant a further delay unless there is a major political change, such as a general election in Britain or a new referendum, to justify it.

Antti Rinne, Finland’s prime minister, whose country currently holds the EU’s rotating presidency, has said an extension lacks widespread support. For one to be acceptable, it would probably require “some sort of future scenario ... to underline that something sensible could start happening”.

He told Finnish lawmakers Wednesday there is “no sense” granting Britain an extension “that seems to lead nowhere, and I don’t think it’s possible to find majority support for such an extension”. The EU, Mr Rinne said, needs “a perspective that would change the situation for a sensible, better direction”.

Additional reporting by Reuters