AFP, Manchester, United Kingdom :
UK prime minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday published his “final” Brexit proposals, warning EU leaders that Britain will walk out without a deal on 31 October if they do not accept his terms.
Officials in Brussels and UK opponents of Brexit fear economic chaos if Britain ends its 46-year membership of the European Union without a formal divorce agreement.
Johnson had earlier warned that this was his “final” offer. But his complex new solution met an initially cool response from Brussels.
A senior MEP said the European Parliament’s initial reaction to it was “not positive at all”.
Johnson said the sides had until 11 October to hammer out the main outlines of a compromise so it could be included on the agenda of a EU leaders’ summit in Brussels on 17-18 October.
“Let us be in no doubt… what the alternative is-the alternative is no deal,” Johnson told his Conservative party conference in Manchester.
“It is not an outcome we seek at all. But let me tell you my friends, it is an outcome for which we are ready.”
Johnson’s latest plan includes several basic provisions-including a potential four-year time limit-that EU leaders have categorically rejected in the past.
Not positive
After speaking by phone to Johnson, European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker pointed to “problematic points that will need further work in the coming days”.
Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar said Johnson’s proposals “do not fully meet the agreed objectives,” although he promised to “study them in further detail”.
And the head of the European Parliament’s Brexit steering group (BSG) Guy Verhofstadt suggested the UK offer was not a serious attempt at reaching a deal but an effort to shift blame for failure to Brussels.
UK prime minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday published his “final” Brexit proposals, warning EU leaders that Britain will walk out without a deal on 31 October if they do not accept his terms.
Officials in Brussels and UK opponents of Brexit fear economic chaos if Britain ends its 46-year membership of the European Union without a formal divorce agreement.
Johnson had earlier warned that this was his “final” offer. But his complex new solution met an initially cool response from Brussels.
A senior MEP said the European Parliament’s initial reaction to it was “not positive at all”.
Johnson said the sides had until 11 October to hammer out the main outlines of a compromise so it could be included on the agenda of a EU leaders’ summit in Brussels on 17-18 October.
“Let us be in no doubt… what the alternative is-the alternative is no deal,” Johnson told his Conservative party conference in Manchester.
“It is not an outcome we seek at all. But let me tell you my friends, it is an outcome for which we are ready.”
Johnson’s latest plan includes several basic provisions-including a potential four-year time limit-that EU leaders have categorically rejected in the past.
Not positive
After speaking by phone to Johnson, European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker pointed to “problematic points that will need further work in the coming days”.
Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar said Johnson’s proposals “do not fully meet the agreed objectives,” although he promised to “study them in further detail”.
And the head of the European Parliament’s Brexit steering group (BSG) Guy Verhofstadt suggested the UK offer was not a serious attempt at reaching a deal but an effort to shift blame for failure to Brussels.
