United Kingdom and Gibraltar European Union membership referendum
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In a telephone conversation with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson had presented his ideas on leaving the EU on Wednesday - but Juncker seems to have been anything but convinced. To the text you have many questions, said a Commission spokeswoman now. "There are problematic points in the UK proposal and more work is needed, and this work is from the UK and not the other way around."
Johnson's plan, which he presented at the conclusion of the Tory party convention in Manchester, provides that the British province of Northern Ireland will remain in a customs union with Britain after Brexit. However, controls on trade in goods with Ireland should not be done at the border, but only "decentralized" through online forms and checks on company premises and along the supply chain.
Ireland is particularly affected by the Brexit dispute. In order not to jeopardize peace on the island, the EU is keen to avoid border controls on British Northern Ireland. However, Johnson wants to delete the "backstop" agreed in the withdrawal agreement and replace it with a complicated set of rules. From an Irish point of view, the new proposal does not meet all the goals of the backstop.
On Thursday, Juncker made a phone call with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar to reaffirm Ireland's full support for the EU, the spokeswoman said. For his part, EU negotiator Michel Barnier will inform the EU ambassadors of the Member States about the situation.
EU summit on 17 and 18 October is approaching
Johnson sees the issue of jurisdiction differently than the EU Commission. "We have shown great flexibility," he said. If the Europeans do not show a "corresponding will," Britain would have no choice but to leave without agreement on October 31st.
The EU is ready to work constructively with the British side to bring about an orderly exit from the EU, the Commission spokeswoman said. But count every day. The EU summit on 17 and 18 October, which could focus on Brexit, needs timely and thorough preparation.
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